Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Language-learning environments'

During the past decade, there has been increasing attention to second/foreign language teaching and learning in virtual worlds. The purpose of this study was to explore affordances of a 3D virtual world platform designed as an immersive language teaching and learning environment. Focusing on designing virtual worlds as a catalyst for change, three design phases (development of artifact, low fidelity prototyping, and high fidelity prototyping) were detailed and documented in this study. Nineteen students from a pre-service teacher cohort, two technicians and eight language learners from high schools in Vancouver as well as eighty language learners from universities in China were involved in this study; participants were asked to immerse themselves in the virtual language learning environment designed for the study. Participants’ interactions in the virtual world were videotaped and avatar interactions were recorded. Group discussions, observations, suvey questionnaires and the video-stimulated post interaction interviews provided complementary data for understanding affordances of virtual worlds in designing immersive second/foreign language learning curriculum. Analysis of the feasibility study, low fidelity design, and high fidelity design suggested a more robust design for immerisve virtual language learning environments. Three design cycles revealed primary design factors of immersive second/foreign language learning in virtual worlds (embodied avatar, co-presence, and simulation) and their relative significance in the process of learners’ meaning-making and knowledge construction. Findings showed that embodiment through an embodied avatar, community of practice through co-presence, and situated learning through simulation had a greater impact on the immersive virtual learning design. Building on a theoretical framework of embodied mind, situated learning and distributed cognition, this study documented features of learning theories key to language learning curriculum design in virtual worlds. The findings and techniques resulting from this study will help designers and researchers improve second/foreign language curriculum design in virtual worlds. It also prompts designers and researchers to achieve a better understanding of how virtual worlds can be redesigned by rethinking learning theories. The refinement of design-based research stages into low and high fidelity prototyping provides researchers with empirically tested and nuanced understandings of the design process.

付記する学位プログラム名: デザイン学大学院連携プログラム
Kyoto University (京都大学)
0048
新制・課程博士
博士(情報学)
甲第22577号
情博第714号
新制||情||122(附属図書館)
京都大学大学院情報学研究科社会情報学専攻
(主査)教授 緒方 広明, 教授 守屋 和幸, 教授 黒田 知宏
学位規則第4条第1項該当

The model for observation is a "package" of salient dimensions of an ideal computer-supported language learning environment: (1) opportunities for learners to interact and to negotiate meaning; (2) an authentic audience; (3) authentic tasks; (4) opportunities for exposure to and production of rich and varied language; (5) opportunities for learners to formulate ideas and thoughts; (6) learner intentional cognition; (7) an ideal-anxiety atmosphere, and (8) learner control. Learner perceptions of these factors are captured via questionnaires before and at the end of two computer-supported interventions. Responses answer the following questions: How do adult community college ESL learners perceive their classroom environments? When computer technology is added to support a drill-and-practice environment or to create a cooperative environment, how do the learners perceive these new environments? To what extent and how do the patterns of perceptions and the relationships between variables change from the initial to the intervention environment? Multi-dimensional scaling constructs maps of learners' perceptions in the pretest and posttest conditions; this systemic analysis shows changes in relationships between the factors and provides an overall picture of these changes. Repeated-measures multivariate analyses of variance are used to determine significant differences both between and within the participant groups for each factor; this analytic data complements that of the MDS maps. Results indicated that learners perceive their learning environments in unexpected ways and that the technology has an impact on these perceptions in that it allows the classroom to be "individualized" in ways not possible without it. Also discussed are implications for task construction and grouping and the importance of learner perceptions to an understanding of the language learning environment.

Is it possible for technological �spaces� to be created that can provide a community atmosphere � one in which learners are not restrained by pre-determined syllabi and have the ability to direct their learning according to their own interests, pace and goals? If so, it would be notable to discover which kinds of interactions might be possible, or might eventuate, and how the participants in such a learning �space� would organize themselves. Also of interest would be the kinds of power structures that emerged through participant interaction, the direction/interactions undertaken by the participants and the improvements that could be made in order to respect and accommodate the differences between learners in a social online learning space. In order to further study this hypothesised need to investigate these questions, this researcher developed an online, English as a Second/Foreign Language learning environment for advanced adult learners of English. She reviewed the appropriate literature in order to theorise how to commence this research direction and investigated various learning platforms and software tools. The result was the development of a multiplatform environment which consisted of a content management system and a 3D microworld. Tools, exercises and content were developed and/or gathered as starting points for learners and the various software had to be learnt in order to orient others on their use. Finally, the environment was trialed over a four week duration with a group of advanced to native speakers of English (volunteers) and the results have been presented in this thesis for discussion. The trial, entitled the ILE Project, attempted to study the problems involved in the technical development of such spaces, to observe the interactions between the learners in a 3D microworld and uncover issues relating to its implementation. Some issues raised by the project concerned techno-literacy, personality-driven interaction differences and organizational power shifts within the 3D community. This thesis closes with an argument that redefines the notion of the learner autonomy, proposes certain modifications to both the pedagogic and technical structure of the online environment and discusses the issues raised in this research. The latter discussion would require further re-conceptualization of the spaces, stakes and support structures that educators can create/provide in an attempt to improve online language learning.

English language learners (ELLs) develop their reading by engaging in diverse literacy activities in the learning contexts of multiliteracies. I investigated ELLs' experiences and their use of strategies when they read computer-based texts at home and in school. In addition, I identified a variety of influential factors that affected the ELLs' use of reading strategies when they read computer-based texts in both research contexts. This research was conducted at homes and at three public elementary schools. Participants were two fourth-grade and two fifth-grade ELLs, four parents, and five classroom teachers. The study included observations, interviews, verbal reports, documents, field notes, and reflective journals. My data analysis processes consisted of five steps and resulted in an understanding of the ELLs' use of strategies and literacy experiences when they read computer-based texts in home and school contexts. I collected data from April 2010 through December 2010. The findings indicated that the ELLs used 15 strategies when they read diverse computer-based texts. All the ELLs created their multi-dimensional zone of proximal development (ZPD) and dialogued with others, themselves, and texts in both non-linear and dynamic ways. The ELLs' specific patterns of using the strategies contained both similarities and differences in each context. In addition, (1) ELLs' electronic literacy knowledge and experiences, (2) parents' and teachers' guidance and interest for computer-based text readings, (3) ELLs' purposes for reading computer-based texts, (4) the language of computer-based texts, and (5) technology equipment in the contexts all influenced the ELLs' use of reading strategies at homes and schools. There are two implications for parents and teachers. First, even though limitations exist, parents and teachers need to play more active roles in supporting their children's efficient and productive use of strategies and computer technology for their computer-based text reading. Second, to enhance the ELLs' literacy development in the learning contexts of multiliteracies, a home-school connection is necessary.

Multimedia CD-ROM based materials are widely used for self-directed language learning purposes, but their use remains an under-researched topic in the field of computer-assisted language learning (CALL). Previous research on successful foreign language learners shows a significant correlation between success in learning a foreign language and individual traits. This study therefore examines the learning processes of less successful learners in self-directed multimedia language learning environments and the impact on individual traits. Viewing self-directed multi-media language learning as a social practice, rather than an instructional tool for learning a foreign language, this exploratory study attempts to understand how participants are involved with human-computer and human-human interaction and how the processes reconstruct individual traits in self-directed multimedia learning environments. Factors such as multi-media features, non-multi-media settings (e.g. peers, the instructor, and reflective activities) learners' beliefs and affective status are considered. The study recruited twelve university students in northern Taiwan, who were low achievers in foreign language (FL) learning and who displayed foreign language anxiety symptoms such as low self-confidence, high FL anxiety and lack of intrinsic motivation. The self-study course lasted for one academic year and the data collection period lasted for two years. The research approach is qualitative, combining intensive interviews, learning diaries, observation, debriefings and inductive data analysis. The focus of this study is an exploration of the participants' initial perceptions of multi-media environments and non-multi-media factors and their impact, an investigation of problems and challenges encountered and how the participants' coped with these, as well as an examination of the perceived impact of the multimedia learning experience on the learning of English and other subjects. The findings suggest that, in addition to the mixed but mostly positive impression and attitudes at the initial stages, there were major challenges associated with technical aspects, managing learning and coping with language learning tasks, as the participants strived to learn the target language using various methods and strategies they developed through the interaction with computers and other participants. The results reveal active, struggling, complex and rewarding processes that were constantly affected by a variety of factors: multimedia features, peers, the instructor, and learners' individual traits, especially motivation, self-confidence, strategy use and beliefs about learning. Specifically, the unique feature of this study is that it documents the learning processes at different stages and the multi-layered and changing nature of factors when learners were faced with different tasks. The results also demonstrate the essential and complex role of peers and the instructor in helping the learners reconstruct their individual traits and in providing scaffolding to reach the ZPD. The process appeared to have a profound impact on the participants in this study and has implications for language researchers or practitioners who intend to employ multimedia for individual use. They should find it useful to consider the problems and challenges learners encountered at the different stages in this study, and the importance of offering both a reflective and social language learning context to facilitate self-directed learning.

This research proposes sets of design patterns of learning environments as an innovative approach towards an intelligent architectural design process. These patterns are based on teachers’ spatial and pedagogical use of their learning environments. The study is based in the desired condition that learning environments are expected to host learning technologies efficiently, to adapt to the fact that its life span is much longer than that of any technology within it, and to accommodate a variation of teaching modes and learning styles. In an effort to address these issues; calls for designing flexible learning spaces have emerged, as well as recommendations for alternative layouts. Yet, more challenging questions emerge; how efficiently do these technologies integrate with other systems in the classroom space? What should architects and facility planners consider for a successful systems’ integration which incorporates learning technologies in the design of the classroom space? And how can these spaces support variations in pedagogical practice. This study attempts to answer these questions by developing a pattern language to support the early design phases of a technology-rich learning environment. The study is qualitative in nature, and based on interviews with a sample of teachers at academic year Governor’s science and technology schools in Virginia. The researcher attempts to capture problems and challenges related to occupants’ performance within the physical boundaries of the classroom when learning technologies are in use. The variation of teaching-learning modes is taken into consideration. In this process, the researcher focuses on integration patterns of learning technologies with the envelope and the interior systems. The findings are then translated into the design language in the form of a pattern language at the building systems scale.
Ph. D.

Many projects exist whose purpose is to augment raw data with annotations that increase the usefulness of the data. The number of these projects is rapidly growing and in the age of “big data” the amount of data to be annotated is likewise growing within each project. One common use of such data is in supervised machine learning, which requires labeled data to train a predictive model. Annotation is often a very expensive proposition, particularly for structured data. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore methods of reducing the cost of creating such data sets, including annotated text corpora.We focus on active learning to address the annotation problem. Active learning employs models trained using machine learning to identify instances in the data that are most informative and least costly. We introduce novel techniques for adapting vanilla active learning to situations wherein data instances are of varying benefit and cost, annotators request work “on-demand,” and there are multiple, fallible annotators of differing levels of accuracy and cost. In order to account for data instances of varying cost, we build a model of cost from real annotation data based on a user study. We also introduce a novel cost-conscious active learning algorithm which we call return-on-investment, that selects instances for annotation that contain the most benefit per unit cost. To address the issue of annotators that request instances “on-demand,” we develop a parallel, “no-wait” framework that performs computation while the annotator is annotating. As a result, annotators need not wait for the computer to determine the best instance for them to annotate—a common problem with existing approaches. Finally, we introduce a Bayesian model designed to simultaneously infer ground truth annotations from noisy annotations, infer each individual annotators accuracy, and predict its own accuracy on unseen data, without the use of a held-out set. We extend ROI-based active learning and our annotation framework to handle multiple annotators using this model. As a whole, our work shows that the techniques introduced in this dissertation reduce the cost of annotation in scenarios that are more true-to-life than previous research.

This is a small, mixed-methods study focusing principally on the learning experience element of Dörnyei’s L2 motivational self system and its effect on students’ ideal and ought-to selves. The specific purpose of this investigation was to explore the L2 classroom environment and explore any potential relationship to the ideal and ought-to selves of the students. The secondary element of this study was to discover whether this potential relationship could impact teacher-training and how. The study was conducted in two English (L2) classes at a Swedish upper-secondary school. A quantitative questionnaire was compiled using features from previous studies in this field and questions designed for this particular study. Each student filled out a questionnaire individually. The results of these were then analysed to establish a picture of the students’ general level of motivation, their possible selves, their classroom environment, and how they felt the former was affected by the latter. Qualitative contributions to the investigations were made through interviews with individual students and observation of lessons. The results indicated that, for the majority, four components of the classroom environment impacted significantly on the ideal and ought-to selves of the students, namely, the teacher, the group cohesiveness and orientedness and finally, the facilities. However, one factor did not demonstrate such a noteworthy influence: course material. The implications of these findings are that course material may not be as critical as originally thought in influencing student motivation. Moreover, teacher-training could, in future, include training on ideal and ought-to selves in order to maximize the positive effect of the classroom environment, as a whole, on individuals. This could be achieved by, for example, adapting the classroom facilities to suit different student needs, forming groups based on common interests and allowing for extra-curricular activities to enhance group-cohesiveness.

This longitudinal research study looks into the attitudes and current practices of Taiwanese teachers in supplementary schools (buxibans) toward professional development. Using the method of triangulation, data from two case studies, survey questionnaire (2004 and 2008), and electronic discourse were gathered and analyzed. A five-point likert scale was used to measure the teachers’ attitudes, Cronbach alpha to measure reliability, Chi-square to test the strength of the correlations between variables, and T-Tests to compare the responses from surveys 1 and 2. An online teacher professional development (oTPD) framework, that integrated the principles of cognitive apprenticeship and informal mentoring in online environments, was used to facilitate 1) the delivery of oTPD over a period of time, 2) the transfer and construction of teacher knowledge and skills that would have direct implications on teachers’ practice and on students’ learning, and 3) the social interaction and collaborative efforts of international teacher-experts (invited mentors) in the oTPD process. Despite some challenges faced during the implementation of new learning activities and/or learning materials adapted from their participation in the oTPD, the results show that teachers who took part in this study benefitted from oTPD through the construction of new knowledge and skills and a positive engagement in professional development.

Current literature indicates a lack of exploration of factors relating to Taiwanese students’ critical thinking in the field of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The research study was a case study based on the social constructivist framework. The aim of this study was to explore how teacher and students interactions online impacted critical thinking by addressing the social norm in Confucius Heritage Culture (CHC). The characteristics of the social norm of CHC do not readily support verbalizing thoughts and challenging others face-to-face in public, which are important to the practice of critical thinking. The research was conducted in an English-major reading class at a university in Taiwan. The data collection methods included focus groups, collaborative inquiry with the teacher, and the researcher’s participant observation in both face-to-face and online discussions. The findings suggested that students need teacher’s cognitive, affective, pedagogical and technical support and face-to-face small group support before engaging in online interactions. Modified debates in new face-to-face models of interaction helped maximise the social constructivist approach with the teacher’s shepherd facilitation. The online interaction patterns in a CHC context underwent a three-phase process, which described how CHC students externalised critical thinking within groups, inter-groups and inter-classes in online form. The study contributes to our understanding and the development of culturally suitable approaches to cognitive, affective, pedagogical and technical guidelines needed in facilitating EFL students’ critical thinking in face-to-face and online interactions in the context of Taiwan.

The population of English Language Learners (ELLs) globally has been increasing substantially every year. In the United States alone, adult ELLs are the fastest growing portion of learners in adult education programs (Yang, 2005). There is a significant need to improve the teaching of English to ELLs in the United States and other English-speaking dominant countries. However, for many ELLs, speaking, especially to Native English Speakers (NESs), causes considerable language anxiety, which in turn plays a vital role in hindering their language development and academic progress (Pichette, 2009; Woodrow, 2006). Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT), such as simulation activities, has long been viewed as an effective approach for second-language development. The current advances in technology and rapid emergence of Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) have provided an opportunity for educators to consider conducting simulations online for ELLs to practice speaking English to NESs. Yet to date, empirical research on the effects of MUVEs on ELLs’ language development and speaking is limited (Garcia-Ruiz, Edwards, & Aquino-Santos, 2007). This study used a true experimental treatment control group repeated measures design to compare the perceived speaking anxiety levels (as measured by an anxiety scale administered per simulation activity) of 11 ELLs (5 in the control group, 6 in the experimental group) when speaking to Native English Speakers (NESs) during 10 simulation activities. Simulations in the control group were done face-to-face, while those in the experimental group were done in the MUVE of Second Life. The results of the repeated measures ANOVA revealed after the Huynh-Feldt epsilon correction, demonstrated for both groups a significant decrease in anxiety levels over time from the first simulation to the tenth and final simulation. When comparing the two groups, the results revealed a statistically significant difference, with the experimental group demonstrating a greater anxiety reduction. These results suggests that language instructors should consider including face-to-face and MUVE simulations with ELLs paired with NESs as part of their language instruction. Future investigations should investigate the use of other multi-user virtual environments and/or measure other dimensions of the ELL/NES interactions.

This study aims at improving English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing instruction at secondary level by implementing a blended instructional design that may foster self-regulation through public online learning diaries (Diaries) and formative feedback in a wiki device in combination with face-to-face (F2F) instruction. Also, all elements are interwoven in the assessment program strongly supported by personalised feedback. In Part I, comprehending chapters 1 to 4, we provide the general theoretical framework for this research, which is based on a competence approach to compulsory education that the countries in the EU have adopted. Our aim is helping students to improve in three of the eight key competences (European Parliament, 2006): Learning Foreign Languages, ICT and Learning to Learn. First, we have reviewed and contextualised what the literature says about EFL writing and different approaches to teaching it and discussed the role of grammar, vocabulary and multimodality pathways in learning to write in a foreign language. Then, we have reviewed the literature on self-regulation for learning (SRL) and self-efficacy and the effects that a public design can have on vicarious learning. We have appraised the role of Diaries, feedback and assessment to improve SRL. Subsequently, we have discussed Diaries in EFL writing in a blended design, and how they can help us improve the students’ autonomy in learning. This literature review leads us to formulate our basic assumptions for the instructional design that we will put to the test. From this review, we conclude that a Diary which integrates cognitive, metacognitive and free writing tasks is a suitable tool for EFL writing instruction and ongoing authentic assessment activities with interactive formative feedback to observe and improve self-regulation strategies. Additionally, a public design can act as a basic form of dialogic feedback, even if what students do is lurking at what other students are doing. In Part II, comprehending chapters 5 to 7, we state the three goals of our research to evaluate an instructional design grounded on literature findings that we developed to improve English as a foreign language (EFL) writing instruction in context. We describe the three main components of the learning diary (Diary) and the writing assignments. We study an EFL class of 10thgraders, aged 15 to 16, at a working-class state school in Barcelona and their English teacher, who was a long-experienced professional, newly arrived at that school. There were 26 students in this class (15 boys and 11 girls), of which we selected six (two strong, two average and two weak ones) for close observation. The instructional design combined face-to-face (F2F) teaching following a textbook with an online platform (a wiki) where students completed the Diary and a variety of writing assignments, with the online supervision of the teacher who provided personalised on-site feedback. In the Diary, and mostly as homework, students had to show their capacity to manage learning strategies and writing competence. In the first place, students had to file F2F instruction and produce examples of use of grammar and vocabulary in the form of sentences (cognitive tasks). Secondly, they had to monitor and correct their writing productions (metacognitive assignments) after the teacher had provided personalised feedback on them. She also developed a system of engagement rewards to incentive correct procedures and participation. In part III (Chapters 7-10) we present the results to our research questions. In Chapter 7 we depict the results concerning goal 1. We observe the activity in the online PWS and the students’ and teacher’s perception of it. In the first place, we consider the temporal dimension of the Diary. Then we move on to study how well the students completed it by task, student and term. Next, we study the writing assignments completion by task and term. Fourthly, we consider the positive and negative effects of the online platform. Finally, we deal with the teacher and students’ views of the PWS. Chapter 8 is devoted to feedback. We analyse the amount and characteristics of the teacher’s feedback depending on the task, as well as its timing for both the Diary and the writing assignments. We also consider the nature of conversations in the PWS. To conclude, we focus on the students’ views on feedback Results for goal 3 are exposed in chapter 9, which analyses in which ways the students’ actions and perceptions in the PWS evolved. In the first place, we ask ourselves which improvements can be reported in the Diary. Secondly, we look at the connections between the Diary and the writing assignments. Thirdly, we observe improvements in the writing assignments, comparing the teacher’s marks to external control measures, such as the state exam and the Write & Improve tool. Finally, we consider the teacher and students’ views. A final chapter 10 gathers a panoramic interpretive reading of each of the selected students and the teacher as to draw their learning profiles. For each of the six selected students, we consider their views on the PWS and the writing and feedback impact on them. In part IV we discuss our findings. About the PWS (goal 1), online designs can set students in action, but the technical problems some students face may cause frustration. It also confirms that stronger students are better at SRL, but their agency may not always be directed towards learning. If weaker students are more SRL focused, the chance is that they will advance more. Scarce metacognitive knowledge, low self-efficacy and lack of motivation make progress slow. Students will favour cognitive tasks over metacognitive, which are not adequate in compulsory education when they were based in understanding what the teacher said instead of in what they understood. Teachers need to plan supervising controls to ensure that students do not leave everything for the last minute, and can pay attention to the teacher’s corrections at different moments. Students did not like that the Diary was compulsory, and they did not like that it was public either, but their perceptions concerning the latter improved significantly, and they used each other’s productions as guidance. The Diary was a threat to average and weak students because it was hard work which, if not done, meant failing the term. The wiki’s lack of popularity was strengthened by technical problems. For goal 2, the teacher’s strategy to provide unfocused, indirect, personalised feedback was not appropriate because it meant a lot of work and did not make some of the students respond to it. The fact that it was timely could not solve the design flaw that it was delivered at the end of the term. These students were the same that show low interest for the design (Darío(a)) or weak students with low metacognitive strategies and linguistic knowledge. So, the students who needed it more (although Mariana(a) became an exception) were the ones who used it less. The students’ perception of feedback was positive enough, but somehow unconscious of the effort it meant to the teacher. For goal 3, when we study the students’ performance in the Diary in some depth, we observe that some students used agency for purposes other than learning, and this behaviour is not related to their linguistic knowledge, but bears relation to how much they make sense of a task and the characteristics of the assessment program. Students did not make sense of the cognitive part of the Diary because the sentences they wrote were not connected with the writing assignments. Furthermore, feedback that focuses only in WCF or sentences rather than paragraphs is not appropriate to teach EFL writing, because such input only addresses one aspect of the overall writing ability. Students value the sentences they wrote in the vocabulary task significantly worse at the end than they did at the beginning of the year. However, they value significantly better that the Diary is an efficient tool to learn English. As for its metacognitive part of the Diary, results were poor when the students were not capable of noticing for themselves what they had learnt, but depended on metacognitive explanations from the teacher which they often did not understand. Students expressed that they liked writing more when they could freely choose what to write about, and this perception improved significantly at the end of the school year. But results show that when students are free to write what they please, the use of translators increases. For this reason, designing tasks that makes them use the vocabulary and grammar they have just been taught would give more meaning to instruction and avoid the dangers of technical cheating. Rich environments where students are exposed to a lot of input (such as films in English subtitled in English) promote EFL writing, especially when the students are asked to carry out a diversity of tasks that stretch for some time.

Adopting a Socio-Constructivist theoretical framework, this study investigated the French language discourse produced by a focal group of five intermediate learners of French while immersed in a virtual learning environment (VLE) and engaged in a problem-based activity. Adopting a mixed methods approach, this study analyzed both quantitative and qualitative data to examine the second language (L2) negotiation and co-construction of meaning process in this group's discourse; as well, it investigated these learners' emerging L2 critical thinking, problem solving, and technology literacy skills. Results indicated that the discourse produced by these students was significantly impacted by the problem-based activity itself, and characterized by a progressive trend towards higher levels of L2 critical thinking, with sustained episodes of negotiation and co-construction of meaning. Most notably, the discourse analysis indicated that it was during the consensus-building phase of the problem-based activity that most instances of higher level critical thinking occurred. Moreover, the 3-D representation of learners (as avatars) and space, as well as the immediacy of synchronous chat-based interactions in the VLE had a positive social, motivational, and linguistic impact on this process. These results lend support to the claim that VLEs, with an underlying problem-based and consensus-building component, provide optimal learning opportunities for learners to develop L2 critical thinking and problem solving abilities. Discussion is offered about the benefits of a mixed methods approach to research, as well as about the reliability and validity of Hull & Saxon's (2009) Interaction Analysis model for L2 discourse analysis. Implications for the L2 classroom as well as for future research on L2 negotiation of meaning are also provided.

This thesis describes a one-year study of 120 fifth grade students whose teachers participated in a program entitled Project SMILE (Science and Mathematics Integrated with Literary Experiences). The purpose of the study was to investigate the extent to which the classroom implementation of Project SMILE positively influenced the classroom environment and student attitudes toward reading, writing and mathematics. This was accomplished by, first, facilitating a series of five professional development workshops with the teachers and, subsequently, asking these teachers to use the strategies with their students. Because Project CRISS (CReating Independence through Student-owned Strategies), the foundation of SMILE, had already proven to be successful nationwide for secondary students, this study focused on elementary (K-5) school students and their teachers. My evaluation of this unique program, that integrates children's literature and mathematics, focused on student attitudes and the nature of the classroom learning environment. My research represents one of the relatively few studies that have employed learning environment dimensions with students in the elementary school mathematics classroom as criteria of effectiveness in the evaluation of educational innovations. The My Class Inventory (MCI) and an adaptation of the 1988 NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) Attitude Survey were administered to a sample of 120 Grade 5 students as measures of students' perceptions of the classroom learning environment and their attitudes. Qualitative data were composed of student and teacher interviews, classroom observations and work samples. Methodologically, my study supports previous research that successfully combined qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection.
The learning environment and attitude scales exhibited satisfactory internal consistency reliability and discriminant validity; additionally, the actual form of most learning environment scales was capable of differentiating between the perceptions of students in different classrooms. The implementation of SMILE was found to have a positive impact on the students and classes of the teachers who participated in the inservice program. In particular, students' attitudes to mathematics and reading improved, and there was congruence between students' actual and preferred classroom environment on the scales of satisfaction and difficulty. Therefore, others can implement SMILE with confidence. As well, prior research was replicated in that students' satisfaction was greater in classrooms with a more positive learning environment, especially in terms of student cohesiveness.

English
Ph.D.
In Practice Makes Practice: A Critical Study of Learning to Teach Deborah Britzman (2003) points out that teacher candidates enter their education programs with their own conceptions of teaching, “bring(ing) to teacher education their educational biography and some well-worn and commonsensical images of the teacher’s work” (p. 27). Similarly, teacher candidates bring their own preconceived ideas of literacy and community to their teaching as well. This study focuses on whether or not teacher candidates’ conceptions of literacy and community can change given a teacher education practicum focused on literacy and community, a community learning experience once a month, and two placements in local middle and high school classrooms. In doing so it inquires as to how each of these different classroom environments informs teacher candidates’ conceptions of literacy and community and how literacy and community is utilized in these different environments. Qualitatively and ethnographically based, the study took place at a state university in rural Pennsylvania. It focused on nine teacher candidates enrolled in a practicum course during their 16-week field experience. It utilized a card sort, surveys, e-mails, teacher candidate journals and assignments, audio taped transcripts of practicum classes and observations. All information was analyzed using constant comparison methods and journals and practicum classes were coded to identify changes over the semester and patterns in the data. The study found that teacher candidates’ conceptions of literacy and community changed over a sixteen week time period as a result of the three different environments that teacher candidates participated in during their field experience semester. Teacher candidates’ conceptions of literacy, once focused on more autonomous literacy practices, expanded to include more sociocultural, i.e. ideological literacy practices. Conceptions of community that were based on more homogeneous, relational conceptions of community grew to include more heterogeneous, geographic conceptions of community. Overall, given three environments focused on literacy and community teacher candidates’ expanded their ideas of literacy and overcame their fears of working with communities outside their own. Correlations were also uncovered relating to authority in each of the environments and the importance of teacher candidate/cooperating teacher relationship to placement success.
Temple University--Theses

Inmersos de lleno en la Sociedad del conocimiento, la incorporación de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación en los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje suponen un gran reto a alcanzar por parte tanto de instituciones educativas, como de un profesorado todavía poco formado y menos consciente de los cambios metodológicos a los que se enfrenta.
En el marco de la formación del profesorado,la formación a lo largo de la vida se establece como prioridad en los programas educativos y de formación de la agenda europea (2007-2013) y a nuestro entender, ésta puede ser claramente ejemplificada por la creación de comunidades virtuales de aprendizaje en las que individuos con objetivos similares se unen para alcanzar retos en común. El uso de herramientas tecnológicas y de modalidades de formación basadas en entornos virtuales ayudan a la comunidad a generar e intercambiar conocimiento en un entorno en el que se participa de forma colaborativa, se comparten experiencias y se solucionan problemas, produciendo procesos de formación y aprendizaje continuos y en constante evolución.
Tomando estas y otras reflexiones como punto de partida se originó la tesis doctoral que presentamos. Así pues, nos propusimos, en primer lugar, realizar un análisis de la situación actual de dicho profesorado en el uso de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación. El primer gran bloque de esta tesis -o marco teórico y referencial- lo constituyen apartados tales como los grandes cambios metodológicos surgidos a raíz de la incorporación de las TIC y su impacto en la enseñanza y aprendizaje de la lengua inglesa. Seguidamente se realiza un exhaustivo y detallado análisis de los órganos que ofrecen formación al profesorado y a la oferta formativa en TIC dirigida específicamente al colectivo mencionado. Posteriormente se lleva a cabo una compilación de herramientas, recursos y actividades electrónicas dirigidas específicamente al profesorado de inglés teniendo muy en cuenta el ámbito pedagógico y su implantación en el aula, proponiendo pautas didácticas de fácil integración.
El segundo gran bloque de la tesis lo constituye una investigación llevada a cabo durante tres años para obtener datos fehacientes respecto del conocimiento en TIC que posee dicho profesorado, la detección de sus demandas formativas reales, la situación actual de este colectivo en relación al acceso e infraestructuras tecnológicas y posibles barreras tanto metodológicas como actitudinales. Así pues se desarrolló una investigación tomando como muestra profesores tanto de educación primaria como de secundaria de todo Catalunya. Dicha investigación fue llevada a a cabo entre los participantes de ocho cursos de formación TIC para profesorado de inglés y para ello se utilizó la modalidad formativa semi-presencial. Para dar soporte a la formación a distancia se utilizaron dos plataformas diferentes: BSCW y Moodle que fomentaron la comunicación y la colaboración entre los participantes hasta límites insospechados.
Los resultados obtenidos permitieron observar una realidad muy alejada de los parámetros que deberían ser considerados normales por lo que respecta al grado de formación TIC que tienen el profesorado de inglés. Por otra parte, el feedback recibido tras la realización de los diferentes cursos de formación también nos permitió realizar una propuesta de Plan de Acción formativo con el principal objetivo de capacitar al profesorado de inglés en el uso de las TIC. Así pues, se ofrece una propuesta formativa con los diferentes módulos y contenidos que, a nuestro entender, debería conocer y gestionar dicho profesorado. Finalmente, una de las revelaciones de todo el proceso fue la gestación y consolidación de una comunidad virtual de aprendizaje formada por los profesores participantes en el proceso de formación.
Deeply immersed in the Society of knowledge, the integration of ICT in teaching and learning processes suppose a great challenge to be achieved both by competent institutions and by a collective of teachers, which is still far from being well-trained and not conscious of the methodological trenes and changes to which they are confronted.
Within the framework of teacher training, life-long training is established as a priority in the European agenda (2007-2013) and, according to our opinión this can be exempolified by the creation of virtual learning communities in which individuals with similar objectives unite in order to achieve common goals. The use of technological tools and training modalities help the community to generate and exchange knowledge in an environment in which oparticipation is done collaborately, experiences are shared and problems are solved, producing, thus, continuous processes of learning and training, which are in constant evolution.
Taking these and other reflexions as departing point this thesis was originated. We carried in the first place a detailed analysis of the present situation of English as a foreign language teachers in the use of ICT. This first great section of this thesis orreferential and theoretical basis- is conformed by chapters which deal with the great methodological changes emerged out of the integartion of ICT and their impact in the teaching and learning of foreign languages. Followingly, there is an exhaustive analysis of the different organizations which offer teacher training in ICT , especially regarding the collective mentioned. Secondly there is a compilation of tools, resources and e.activities especifically addressed to the English as a foreign language teachers, taking into account the pedagogical field as well as its integration into the classrooms.
The second main section of this thesis is conformed by an investigation which was carried out during three years in order to obtain relevant data regarding the knowledge of ICT that teachers have, the detection of their training needs and the real situation of this collective regarding their access to technology and the barriers that prevent them form using ICT.
Tus, we Developer an investigation which took as sample teachers belonging to both Primary and Secondary Education from the whole of the catalan territory. The research was carried out with participants of eight courses of teacher training in ICT and used the blended modality. In order to support the virtual teaching we used two different platforms: BSCW and Moodle, which encouraged communication among participants and enhanced collaboration as well.
The obtained results allowed us to observe that there are many challenges to be overcome. Otherwise, the feedback obtained after the courses were delivered allowed us to account for a Training Action Plan whose main aim is that of providing training and capacitation to teachers of English as foreign language teachers.

With the rise of the smartphone industry, the domain of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) has increasingly grown. A large number of language learning applications have been developed aiming to support individuals’ second language acquisition on various levels, e.g., by teaching vocabulary and grammar to improve reading and listening comprehension. The viability of these applications has been examined in literature and shows overall positive but mixed results. On one side, their success is partly attributed to gamified design elements. These are reported to improve the user experience (UX) and boost learners' motivation. On the other side, the primary reliance on decontextualized vocabulary and grammar exercises is criticized. In response, one such application, SVT Språkplay developed by the Swedish non-profit Språkkraft, incorporated television programs as a longer form of context. This introduced novel video-based learning functions. The first aim of this thesis was to start filling a gap in research by evaluating the usability and user experience of these functions. This was performed through user tests and interviews with seven second language students who used the app to learn Swedish over a period of at least two weeks. The second aim of the thesis was to improve the usability and user experience of the problematic learning functions through a user-centred design process with the ultimate goal to improve learner support and vocabulary acquisition outcomes. The study participants consisted of doctoral researchers and students recruited from a basic Swedish course at KTH. They represent a demographic that benefits from learning Swedish to improve their job opportunities. The initial evaluation results were analysed through the lens of the MUUX-E theoretical framework [10] , a framework for evaluating the “user experience and educational features of m-learning environments”. The evaluation showed that the core vocabulary learning aids directly integrated into the video watching experience were perceived as useful. Conversely, the gamified learning functions outside of the video watching experience were found to be scarcely used as intended. The subsequent user-centered design process improved upon the design of problematic learning functions by adhering to the principles of the MUUX-E framework. Concretely, more varied contextualized vocabulary exercises were designed, more options for user customization were included and feedback and progress metrics such as “streaks” were highlighted. An evaluation of the design with the same participants as the initial evaluation suggests that these changes would improve the usability and user experience of the application. Further research should evaluate an implemented end-product based on the proposed designs in a real-life setting. In that case, its pedagogical merit should also be evaluated. In summary, this thesis found that mobile video-based MALL apps such as Språkplay can provide usable and enjoyable language learning functions.
Med tillväxten av mobiltelefonbranschen har domänen för mobilassisterad språkinlärning (MALL) ökat alltmer. Ett stort antal språkinlärningsapplikationer har utvecklats för att stödja individers förvärv av andraspråk på olika nivåer, t.ex. genom att lära ut ordförråd och grammatik samt för att förbättra läs- och hörförståelsen. Dessa applikationer har undersökts i litteraturen och visar positiva men blandade resultat. Å ena sidan tillskrivit deras framgång delvis spelelementen. Dessa rapporteras förbättra användarupplevelsen (UX) och öka elevernas motivation. Å andra sidan kritiseras det primära förlitandet på dekontekstualiserade ordförråd och grammatikövningar. Som ett svar skapades en sådan applikation, SVT Språkplay, utvecklad av den svenska ideella föreningen Språkkraft, vilken använder TV-program som en längre form av språkligt sammanhang. Detta introducerade nya videobaserade inlärningsfunktioner. Det första syftet med denna uppsats var att börja fylla ett hål i forskningen genom att utvärdera användbarheten och användarupplevelsen av dessa funktioner. Det gjordes genom att genomföra användartester och intervjuer med sju andraspråkstudenter som använde appen för att lära sig svenska under en period av två veckor. Det andra syftet med arbetet var att förbättra användbarheten och användarupplevelsen för dessa inlärningsfunktioner genom en användarcentrerad designprocess med det slutliga målet att förbättra studentens stöd. Studiedeltagarna bestod av doktorander och studenter rekryterade från en nybörjarkurs i svenska på KTH. De representerar en demografisk nytta av att lära sig svenska för att öka deras tillgång till den svenska arbetsmarknaden. De första utvärderingsresultaten analyserades genom tillämpning av MUUX-E-ramverket, ett ramverk för att utvärdera “ u ser experience and e ducational features of m -learning e nvironments” [10] . Det visade att de grundläggande ordförrådets inlärningshjälpmedel som direkt integrerades i video upplevdes som användbara. Omvänt användes knappt alls de spelifierade inlärningsfunktionerna utanför videon. Den efterföljande användarcentrerade designprocessen förbättrades vid design av problematiska inlärningsfunktioner genom att följa principerna i MUUX-E-ramverket. Konkret utformades mer varierade kontextualiserade vokabulärövningar, fler alternativ för användaranpassning inkluderades och feedback- och framstegsmetriker som “streaks” lyftes fram. En utvärdering av designen med samma deltagare som den första utvärderingen tyder på att dessa förändringar skulle förbättra användbarheten och användarupplevelsen. Ytterligare forskning bör utvärdera en implementerad slutprodukt baserad på de föreslagna designförbättringarna i en verklig miljö. I så fall bör dess pedagogiska meriter också utvärderas. Sammanfattningsvis fann vi att videobaserade MALL-appar som Språkplay kan ge användbara och roliga språkinlärningsfunktioner.

Les robots sont l’avenir. Mais comment pouvons-nous leur apprendre de nouvelles compétences utiles? Ce travail couvre une variété de sujets, ayant tous pour but commun de faciliter l’entraînement des robots. La première composante principale de cette thèse est notre travail sur le transfert de modélisation sim2real. Lorsqu’une stratégie a été entièrement apprise en simulation, ses performances sont généralement considérablement inférieures à celles du vrai robot. Cela peut être dû à du bruit aléatoire, à des imprécisions ou à des effets non modélisés, tels que des réactions en retour. Nous introduisons une nouvelle technique pour apprendre la différence entre le simulateur et le vrai robot et pour l’utiliser afin de corriger le simulateur. Nous avons constaté que pour plusieurs de nos idées, aucune simulation appropriée n’était disponible. Par conséquent, pour la deuxième partie principale de la thèse, nous avons créé un ensemble de nouvelles simulations robotiques et de nouveaux environnements de test. Nous fournissons (1) plusieurs nouvelles simulations pour des robots existants, ainsi que des variantes d’environnements existants, qui permettent un ajustement rapide de la dynamique du robot. Nous avons également co-créé (2) le défi AIDO de Duckietown, qui est un concours de robotique en direct à grande échelle pour les conférences NIPS 2018 et ICRA 2019. Pour ce défi, nous avons créé l’infrastructure de simulation, qui permet aux participants d’entraîner leurs robots en simulation avec ou sans ROS. Il leur permet également d’évaluer automatiquement leurs soumissions sur des robots en direct dans un ”Robotarium”. Afin d’évaluer la compréhension et l’acquisition continue de langage par un robot, nous avons développé le (3) Test d’Interaction Multimodal Homme-Robot (MHRI). Cet ensemble de tests contient plusieurs heures d’enregistrements annotés de différentes personnes montrant et pointant des objets ménagers courants, le tout du point de vue d’un robot. La nouveauté et la difficulté de cette tâche découlent du bruit réaliste inclus dans le jeu de données: la plupart des personnes n’était pas de langue maternelle anglaise, certains objets étaient obstrués et personne n’avait reçu d’instructions détaillées sur la manière de communiquer avec le robot, entraînant des interactions très naturelles. Nous avons constaté un manque flagrant de simulations d’environnements domestiques réalistes, avec annotations sémantiques, qui permettraient à un agent d’acquérir les compétences nécessaires pour maîtriser une telle tâche. C’est pourquoi nous avons créé (4) HoME, une plate-forme de formation de robots domestiques à la compréhension du langage. L’environnement a été créé en encapsulant la base de données existante SUNCG 3D, composée de maisons, dans un moteur de jeu pour permettre aux agents simulés de parcourir ces dernières. Il intègre un moteur acoustique très détaillé et un moteur sémantique pouvant générer des descriptions d’objets en relation avec d’autres objets, meubles et pièces. La troisième et dernière contribution principale de ce travail prend en considération le fait qu’un robot peut se trouver dans un nouvel environnement non couvert par la simulation. Dans un tel cas, nous fournissons une nouvelle approche qui permet à l’agent de reconstruire une scène 3D à partir d’une seule image 2D en apprenant l’intégration d’objets. Le principal inconvénient de ce travail est qu’il ne prend actuellement pas en charge de manière fiable la reconstruction de couleur et de texture. Nous avons testé cette approche sur une tâche de rotation mentale, courante dans les tests de QI, et avons constaté que notre modèle arrivait nettement mieux à reconnaître et à faire pivoter des objets que plusieurs modèles de référence
Robots are the future. But how can we teach them useful new skills? This work covers a variety of topics, all with the common goal of making it easier to train robots. The first main component of this thesis is our work on model-building sim2real transfer. When a policy has been learned entirely in simulation, the performance of this policy is usually drastically lower on the real robot. This can be due to random noise, to imprecisions, or to unmodelled effects like backlash. We introduce a new technique for learning the discrepancy between the simulator and the real robot and using this discrepancy to correct the simulator. We found that for several of our ideas there weren’t any suitable simulations available. Therefore, for the second main part of the thesis, we created a set of new robotic simulation and test environments. We provide (1) several new robot simulations for existing robots and variations on existing environments that allow for rapid adjustment of the robot dynamics. We also co-created (2) the Duckietown AIDO challenge, which is a large scale live robotics competition for the conferences NIPS 2018 and ICRA 2019. For this challenge we created the simulation infrastructure, which allows participants to train their robots in simulation with or without ROS. It also lets them evaluate their submissions automatically on live robots in a ”Robotarium”. In order to evaluate a robot’s understanding and continuous acquisition of language, we developed the (3) Multimodal Human-Robot Interaction benchmark (MHRI). This test set contains several hours of annotated recordings of different humans showing and pointing at common household items, all from a robot’s perspective. The novelty and difficulty in this task stems from the realistic noise that is included in the dataset: Most humans were non-native English speakers, some objects were occluded and none of the humans were given any detailed instructions on how to communicate with the robot, resulting in very natural interactions. After completing this benchmark, we realized the lack of simulation environments that are sufficiently complex to train a robot for this task. This would require an agent in a realistic house settings with semantic annotations. That is why we created (4) HoME, a platform for training household robots to understand language. The environment was created by wrapping the existing SUNCG 3D database of houses in a game engine to allow simulated agents to traverse the houses. It integrates a highly-detailed acoustic engine and a semantic engine that can generate object descriptions in relation to other objects, furniture, and rooms. The third and final main contribution of this work considered that a robot might find itself in a novel environment which wasn’t covered by the simulation. For such a case we provide a new approach that allows the agent to reconstruct a 3D scene from 2D images by learning object embeddings, since especially in low-cost robots a depth sensor is not always available, but 2D cameras a common. The main drawback of this work is that it currently doesn’t reliably support reconstruction of color or texture. We tested the approach on a mental rotation task, which is common in IQ tests, and found that our model performs significantly better in recognizing and rotating objects than several baselines

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior
Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo estudar as estratÃgias de aprendizagem (EA) utilizadas por aprendizes de inglÃs como lÃngua estrangeira em EaD. Adotamos a conceituaÃÃo de Oxford (1990), de acordo com a qual estratÃgias sÃo ―passos tomados pelo aluno para melhorar o prÃprio aprendizado‖. As estratÃgias agrupam-se em dois grandes conjuntos â o das diretas e o das indiretas, que se subdividem em: estratÃgias de memÃria; de compensaÃÃo; estratÃgias cognitivas; metacognitivas; afetivas; e sociais. A fim de identificarmos os perfis de uso de EA por aprendizes em EaD, aplicamos o InventÃrio de EstratÃgias de Aprendizagem de LÃnguas - IEALE - (OXFORD, 1990), na versÃo traduzida por Paiva (1998) para o portuguÃs. Entre outros resultados, verificamos que a mÃdia geral no IEALE para nossos sujeitos foi de 3,02 (trÃs vÃrgula zero dois), o que os encaixa em uma categoria mÃdia de uso das EA. A ordem da mÃdia de uso dos grupos de EA que compÃem o IEALE foi: 1. metacognitivas; 2. sociais; 3. cognitivas; 4. afetivas; 5. memÃria; e 6. compensaÃÃo. Foi tambÃm analisada a relaÃÃo entre o perfil de uso de EA e o desempenho desses alunos em disciplinas de lÃngua inglesa, realizando testes nÃo-paramÃtricos de correlaÃÃo (Spearman Rho). Os testes estatÃsticos apontam uma correlaÃÃo tanto entre desempenho oral (sig. 0,000), quanto escrito (sig. 0,012), e o uso de EA. Foram ainda comparados os resultados obtidos neste estudo aos resultados de outros estudos sobre EA em modalidade presencial. Infelizmente, a metodologia empregada pela maioria das pesquisas brasileiras nÃo ofereceu condiÃÃes de generabilidade e, por isso, nÃo foi possÃvel realizar contraste entre os dados desta pesquisa e os obtidos por outras pesquisas brasileiras. Na anÃlise de pesquisas estrangeiras, foi identificada a seguinte ordem quanto à mÃdia de uso dos grupos de EA: 1. Metacognitivas e CompensaÃÃo; 2. Sociais e Cognitivas; 3. MemÃria e Afetivas, dados bastante similares Ãqueles que obtivemos com os sujeitos desta pesquisa. Este estudo possibilitou um cruzamento natural entre as definiÃÃes de EA e autonomia de aprendizagem. Mudando a perspectiva que enxerga as EA como um dos mecanismos para promover a autonomia, acreditamos serem as EA, na realidade, aquilo que deverÃamos medir para avaliar a autonomia de aprendizagem.
The main goal of this dissertation is to study the learning strategies used by distance learners of English as a Foreign Language in virtual environments. The study is based on Oxfordâs (1990) concept of strategies as steps taken by the learner to improve his/her own learning. The strategies are divided into two groups â direct and indirect strategies, and each group is divided into sub groups: memory, compensation, cognitive, metacognitive, affective and social strategies. In order to identify the different profiles of users of learning strategies, the translated version (PAIVA, 1998) of the Strategy Inventory of Language Learning (OXFORD, 1990) - SILL - was used. Results indicated that the average score in the SILL was 3.2 (three point two) among the distance learning learners. This average score places the learners in the profile of medium users of the strategies. The rank of use for the strategy groups was: 1st metacognitive; 2nd social; 3rd cognitive; 4th affective; 5th memory; and 6th compensation. The relationship between the user profile and the performance in English courses was also analyzed, using a non-parametric test of correlation (Spearman Rho). The results of the tests indicate a significant correlation between the use of strategies and learnersâ performance on courses that developed both oral (sig. 0.000) and written skills (0.012). The results yielded by the application of the Inventory of Learning Strategies were also compared to the results obtained by other studies using the same inventory in face-to-face contexts. Unfortunately, this comparison could not be made with Brazilian studies, since the methodology used by them did not allow for generalizations. The analysis of the results obtained by foreign studies indicated that the rank of use for the groups of strategies was: 1st metacognitive and compensation; 2nd Social and Cognitive; 3rd memory and affective skills, a rank very close to the one obtained by this study. This study has also raised the possibility of combining the concepts of Learning Strategies with those of learning autonomy, adding to the view of learning strategies as tools to develop autonomy, the possibility of using these strategies to evaluate learning autonomy.

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Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo refletir sobre os sentidos construídos pelos alunos e professores ao utilizarem ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem em modalidades de Educação On-Line. Uma prática educacional de ensino e aprendizagem de língua estrangeira através do ambiente TelEduc sustentou a construção dos registros pelos participantes da pesquisa, os quais são alunos dos cursos de Ensino Médio e Técnico da Fundação Escola Técnica Liberato Salzano Vieira da Cunha, de Novo Hamburgo. As teorias Sociocultural de Lev S. Vygotsky e Dialógica de Mikhail Bakhtin foram o principal referencial teórico durante o desenvolvimento do estudo. Os instrumentos para o registro da experiência foram documentos escritos e entrevistas semi-estruturadas. Além disso, as produções dos alunos no ambiente deram suporte às reflexões. Nos registros da experiência, os sujeitos constroem sentidos sobre os ambientes virtuais que ora se alinham, ora se contradizem. As conclusões, porém, apontam para a construção do significado relativo aos
This research has the objective of reflecting about the senses which are constructed by students and teachers when using virtual learning environments in modalities of On-Line Education. An educational practice of teaching and learning a foreign language through TelEduc gave support to the construction of the registers by the participants of the research, who are students of the technical and high school courses of Fundação Escola Técnica Liberato Salzano Vieira da Cunha, from Novo Hamburgo. Lev S. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory and Mikhail Bakhtin’s Dialogic Theory were the main theoretical references during the study. The instruments for the register of the experience were written documents and semi-structured interviews. Besides, students’ productions in the environment gave support to the reflections. In the registers of the experience, the subjects construct senses about the virtual environment which sometimes align and other times contradict themselves. The conclusions, however, lead to the constructi

Syftet med denna kvalitativa studie är att bidra med kunskap om ordförrådsutveckling och dess främjande avseende elever med språkstörning, utifrån några lärares, speciallärares och skollogopeders beskrivningar. Elever med språkstörning utvecklar inte sina språkliga förmågor i samma takt som jämnåriga och utveckling av ordförrådet är ett vanligt svårighetsområde hos dessa elever. Ordförrådet spelar en avgörande roll för förståelsen i all undervisning och därför riskeras måluppfyllelsen hos elever med ordförrådssvårigheter. Den teoretiska ramen för studien utgörs av teorier om lexikala nätverk samt sociokulturell teori. Studiens ansats är fenomenografisk och empirin har inhämtats genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. I resultatet framkommer informanternas beskrivningar av hur svårigheter med ordförrådet yttrar sig, hur lärmiljön kan göras språkligt tillgänglig samt hur ordförrådsutvecklingen kan stimuleras och stödjas, både i klassrumsundervisningen och den individanpassade undervisningen. Informanterna beskriver att elever med språkstörning kan ha svårt att uttrycka sig, uttala och mobilisera ord vid olika tillfällen. Deras svårigheter med språklig förståelse påverkar förmågan att förstå innehållet i genomgångar, instruktioner och texter. I resultatet återfinns exempel på generella anpassningar i den ordinarie undervisningen som kan öka den språkliga tillgängligheten; en tydlig lektionsstruktur, muntliga och skriftliga instruktioner, visualisering, symbolstöd, konkret material och digitala lärverktyg. I studien ges exempel på hur ordförrådsundervisningen kan se ut för att stödja elever med språkstörning såsom högläsning, gemensam läsning samt läsgrupper där nya ord förklaras och knyts till elevernas erfarenheter. Ett fördjupat arbete med ämnesspecifika och ämnesövergripande ord beskrivs som innebär att ordet förklaras och knyts till en bild, sak eller erfarenhet samt används i språkliga aktiviteter. Förförståelse, många exponeringar och repetition är gynnsamt. Vid skrivande kan ordmobilisering underlättas av bilder, startmeningar, ordbankar, synonymlistor och ordprediktionsprogram. Resultatet visar att elever med språkstörning behöver mycket stöd, både i klassrumsundervisningen och individuellt. Speciallärarens roll blir att uppmärksamma språksvårigheterna, stödja läraren med ordförrådsundervisning i klassrummet och skapa en språkligt tillgänglig lärmiljö samt tillämpa individanpassade insatser för att stödja ordförrådsutvecklingen.
The purpose of this qualitative study is to provide further knowledge regarding vocabulary development of students with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). It is based on the feedback from class teachers, learning support teachers and educational speech therapists. Students with DLD do not advance in their language skills at the same rate as their peers and vocabulary development is a common area of difficulty for these students. Vocabulary plays a crucial role in the process of learning and therefore poses a risk of not reaching the students full potential. The theoretical framework for this study consists of theories of lexical networks and sociocultural theory. The study approach is phenomenographic and the empirical evidence was obtained through semi-structured interviews. The results outline the assessors descriptions of how the challenges with vocabulary manifest itself whilst outlining how to create language-accessible learning environments. They also define how the development of vocabulary can be stimulated and supported, both in the classroom and through individualised learning. The assessors describe that students with DLD may have some difficulty expressing themselves, pronouncing and mobilising their words in certain situations. Their difficulties with linguistic comprehension affects the ability to understand the content of the teaching, instructions and texts. Results include examples of general adaptations in ordinary teaching that can increase language accessibility; a clear lesson structure, oral and written instructions, visualisation, symbol support, concrete material and digital learning tools. This study gives examples of what vocabulary teaching may look like when supporting students with DLD, like reading aloud, shared reading and reading groups where new words are explained and linked to the students experiences. In-depth work with specific and interdisciplinary words means that the word is explained and linked to an image, item or experience and used in linguistic activities. Prior understanding, increased exposure and repetition are all beneficial. When writing, word mobilisation can be facilitated by pictures, starting sentences, word banks, thesaurus lists and word prediction programs. End results show that students with DLD need a lot of support, both in the classroom and individually. The learning support teacher's role will be to bring attention to any language difficulties, support the teacher with vocabulary teaching in the classroom, create a linguistically accessible learning environment and provide individualised support to aid vocabulary development.

The purpose of my research is to investigate how preschool teachers think about how the ability to distinguish language sounds affects children's language development and how preschool teachers work on teaching children to distinguish different sounds. I used qualitative interviews and analyzed with interpretative phenomenological analysis. The result I got was that preschool teachers work consciously to distinguish sounds and that they see the importance of children's ability to discern language sounds has an effect on language development. The conclusions I came up with are that preschool teachers actively try to keep the volume down and that they are aware that the concentration is affected by external auditory stimuli.
Syftet med min undersökning var att undersöka hur förskollärare tänker om hur förmågan att urskilja språkljud påverkar barnens språkutveckling och även hur förskollärarna jobbar med att lära barnen urskilja olika ljud. Jag använde mig av kvalitativa intervjuer och analyserade med interpretativ fenomenologisk analys (IPA). Resultatet jag fick var att förskollärarna arbetar medvetet att urskilja ljud och även att de ser vikten av barnens förmåga att urskilja språkljud har en påverkan på språkutvecklingen. Slutsatserna jag kom fram till är att förskollärarna aktivt försöker hålla nere ljudvolymen och att de är medvetna om att koncentrationen påverkas av yttre auditiva stimuli.

This study explores intercultural communicative competence in a distance language learning programme at the Open University in the UK. The research was based on two cohorts of distance language students of German, one at beginner and one at advanced level. This study uses an approach that combines quantitative and qualitative research methods through the use of questionnaires and in-depth, semi-structured telephone interviews. It was established that the conceptual framework of intercultural communicative competence developed by Byram (1997b) and his collaborators is the most comprehensive and viable framework for this project. There is evidence in the literature that this framework has been used successfully in different contexts (Byram & Morgan, 1994; O’Dowd, 2006; Sercu et al., 2005a). Little research has been conducted on the development of intercultural communicative competence in adults, with the exception of Aarup Jensen et al. (1995). So this project addresses a gap in the research into intercultural communicative competence among adults. Furthermore, it focuses on a programme of language study at a distance, which is another area for which only limited research evidence could be found. The findings of the project, both the quantitative and qualitative aspects, demonstrate that these learners gained knowledge through the study of a prescribed package of course materials, and that there is evidence of the acquisition of intercultural communicative competence of varying degrees, as stipulated in Byram’s conceptual framework. The findings also demonstrate that the framework of intercultural communicative competence would benefit from the addition of a sixth dimension to encapsulate the experiences and diverse backgrounds that specifically adult learners bring to the study of a modern foreign language: experience of life or savoir s’appuyer sur son expérience.

This paper describes processes and subsequent conclusions after working collaboratively in the broad area of language learning. The inquiry process considered factors in the learning environment which might benefit the learners, with music and drawing in the classroom being trialled and discussed with teachers and adult migrant English learners in different contexts. The responses of some primary aged students with learning problems and their parents and/or teachers were also studied. The inquiry process indicated that the term 'environments' must be understood to include personal environment, involving the Life energy fields, considered here to be the physical field, and the field of thought and memory, as well as the cultural, family, educational and other significant environments, within the context of the evolving Australian society. The term the author has chosen to describe the interaction of these experiential fields with the will of the individual, is an etheric. Membership of, or exclusion from, an etheric, may be subtle but can be discerned when considering a migrant attempting to enter the Australian workforce or, any person trying to enter a new field of endeavour. The author suggests that this concept explores the phenomenon of acceptance of a language or entry into a group
Master of Science (Hons)

This thesis investigated the etiology of individual differences in Chinese language and literacy skills with a two-wave longitudinal design using a sample of 312 Chinese twin pairs aged 3 to 11 in Hong Kong. Children were individually given tasks of Chinese word reading, receptive vocabulary, phonological memory, tone awareness, syllable and rhyme awareness, rapid automatized naming, morphological awareness, and orthographic skills, as well as nonverbal reasoning and audiometric screening tests. They were tested again on the same tasks, except nonverbal reasoning, one year after the initial testing. Children’s saliva was collected to perform SNP testing for zygosity determination. Also, their demographic information, home literacy environment profile, and motivation for learning text, were obtained from parent-rated questionnaires. Overall, there were four major findings on Chinese language and literacy abilities with the effects of age and nonverbal reasoning controlled for. First, genes and environments had differential influences on various skills, and there was a possibility of different etiology in language and reading development. Second, socioeconomic status and home literacy environment were plausible mediators but not moderators of general language and reading abilities. Third, the stability of various skills across a one-year time period was mainly mediated by genetic influences, but shared environmental factors also influenced syllable and rhyme awareness. Also, new genetic and environmental factors came into play at Time 2 for word reading, and results suggested new genetic influences and new shared environmental influences emerged at Time 2 for tone awareness and morphological awareness respectively. Fourth, both genes and environments contributed to parent-rated communicative ability and motivation for learning text. Furthermore, the link between word reading and parent-rated motivation was mediated by genetic processes. The universality of the genetic and environmental origins across languages and their specificity to Chinese, as well as the implications of these findings, were discussed.

This paper provides a report on the experimental collaborative and distributed development of a prototypic Widget-based PLE. The development process is described and detailed taking into account the requirements of a language learning scenario. First results are presented, and developer experiences are discussed critically with a focus on the development process as well as problems with current Widget technologies and interoperability.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2004.
Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 243 p.; also includes graphics Includes bibliographical references (p. 238-243). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

In "Technology and Literacy: A Story about the Perils of Not Paying Attention," Cynthia Selfe charges the field of composition not to simply consider technology a tool, but to "pay attention" to the rhetorical and social implications of those tools. In one sense, paying critical attention to technological literacies echoes the decade-old call for Computers and Writing practitioners to use research as a means of assessing online activities, suggesting that teachers not remain satisfied with the unreflective excitement that has been the operative epistemology of the field from its beginning. In another sense, Selfe's recent call enlists teachers and students in reflective and evaluative class discussion and writing on the technological literacy tools they are learning to use.This dissertation responds to both of these implications as it studies a semester of first-year college composition students within a synchronous online classroom environment. The question that guides my study is, in its most basic form, what happens during synchronous online writing conferences? And to speak to that question, I design an ethnographic context-sensitive text analysis employing grounded theory for data coding, a methodological model adaptable for future research in synchronous online classroom activity. I focus on three issues that have continually arisen in the scholarship surrounding synchronous conferencing: aspects of online language, the implications of the environment within object-oriented MUDs (MOOs), and the use of social constructionism as a theoretical foundation for synchronous conferencing.With the findings from my study, I conclude the dissertation by offering pedagogical suggestions to teachers and students for critically assessing synchronous online discourse. My articulation of assessment mandates that students and teachers engage in it together, collaboratively reflecting on what happens online and learning about synchronous online discourse-a significant ingredient in contemporary literacy.
Department of English

This project addresses the needs of the adult learner. The adult learner referred to in; this project comes from two distinguishable groups. One group of adult learners consists of the ESL students who attend adult school or community-based English programs. The other group of adult learners consists of the teachers within adult education ESL programs who themselves are students as they participate in professional development workshops.

This qualitative study looks into some Kenyan school teachers strategies in the multilingual environment they work in. The school of this study uses a foreign language as the medium of instruction, instead of the mother tongue culturally spoken by both teachers and students. It presents some of the strategies observed and at the same time looks closely into the possible positive and negative outcomes it has on the students learning. It also looks into the reason for why the medium of instruction is another than mother tongue and the cultural effects of this. By observations and interviews data has been collected and presented aiming to show the teachers thoughts about their working situation, and also their thoughts about their role in the classroom.

This investigation comprised two studies aimed at identifying the relationship, if any, between beliefs about the formal or functional nature of learning English as a foreign language and learning behaviour in a vocabulary learning computer environment. Two measurement tools were developed.A questionnaire was developed to measure beliefs of a general nature about the task of learning a foreign language, definition of the formal functional components of language learning activities, and beliefs about the efficacy of the same language activities. This was done to observe the correlations, if any, between formal-functional bias in general beliefs and preferences for specific activities which respondents have previously defined in formal-functional terms. A hypertext program was also developed. This program consisted of vocabulary learning materials with code built into the programming which recorded user interaction in log files. Using the logged data, general beliefs and beliefs about the efficacy of language learning activities could then be compared with preference for inductive and deductive learning, passive and productive practice, and effort invested in the task as measured by the number of screens accessed and time spent on the task. The two studies making up the investigation consisted of a pilot study to test the questionnaire and a main study, combining the questionnaire and software. The Main Study was done in four stages with the first three stages being used to pilot the software and the final stage functioning as the source of data on subject behaviour. Questionnaire data was compared with the logged data and post-hoc interviews served to triangulate the logged data. A qualitative analysis of subject behaviour in the computer environment was also carried out. Main findings for questionnaire data were that formal-functional bias in general beliefs may be related to preference for formal or functional activities. Beliefs regarding knowledge of target language culture or learning context may be more closely related to formal-functional preferences than beliefs regarding grammar or vocabulary. Regarding correlational relationships with logged data, beliefs appeared to be less important than prior knowledge of target vocabulary. Subjects showed a consistent pattern of variation of preferences according to level of prior knowledge while effort invested showed a bellshaped curve with increasing prior knowledge. Formal-Functional biases in general beliefs had correlational relationships with effort invested, but the direction of the relationships varied according to the belief. Main conclusions were that the pattern of interaction suggested subjects were acting autonomously. In exercising this autonomy, they were influenced by their beliefs, but level of prior knowledge of the task was more important in determining how they learned or practiced the target vocabulary. Regarding pedagogical implications, it was argued that the formal-functional distinction has little pedagogical value in terms of understanding language learners. Finally, it was concluded that this research has shown that language learners' metacognitive knowledge of the task of language learning is a resource which teachers ignore at their peril.

The purpose of this thesis is to study whether target-like articulation of the Spanish tap [ɾ] and trill [r] is achieved by second language learners who have lived in a Spanish-speaking environment for an extensive period of time. The subjects of this study were students at Brigham Young University (BYU) who had spent 18 months to two years in a Spanish-speaking country. Most of the subjects had little to no previous Spanish instruction, but rather learned the language primarily through their contact with native speakers while abroad. In addition to whether or not subjects achieved target-like pronunciation of these two Spanish sounds, this study sought to observe whether or not certain linguistic factors (e.g., neighboring sounds, syllable stress, etc.) and extra-linguistic factors (e.g., previous Spanish instruction, instructors who were native speakers of Spanish, articulation in formal or informal speech, etc.) had influence on their articulation. The results of this study reveal that the subjects were generally successful in articulating the Spanish rhotic sounds. The majority of the subjects pronounced the rhotics in a target-like manner over 80% of the time. Furthermore, while previous studies have claimed that the transfer of the American English approximant [ɹ] is the most common error when acquiring the Spanish tap and trill, the current study suggests that the most common error of L2 speakers who have lived abroad is developmental: the production of the tap [ɾ] in place of the trill /r/. Lastly, it reveals, through the results of a variable rule analysis, that the two most significant factors in accurate tap and trill articulation are its phonetic context and whether or not the participants had received adequate Spanish instruction prior to having lived abroad.

Despite decades of Instructed Second Language Acquisition research, there is still a dearth of research on the applicability of findings in different learning environments, pa1ticularly self-accessed technology-enhanced environments (TELL). In ISLA, types of input available in the classroom can be categorized as Focus on Meaning (FoM), Focus on Form (FoF) and Focus on FormS (FoS), (Doughty & Williams 1 998). In traditional classrooms, research indicates superiority of FoF and FoS (Spada & Tomita 2008, 20 I 0). The question sti II remains, though, of which type of input is most effective in TELL. One assumption about TELL is that it enhances input quantity and quality. That is, input is delivered in greater quantity and when the learner can make best use of it, better quality. Moreover, the type of interaction in TELL (human ­ software) is different to classroom interaction (hum an-human). Such differences are likely to affect both the learner's output (product) and the learner 's behaviour during learning (process). A stud y of 71 ESL learners, divided into three groups, was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of FOM, FOF, and FoS in a TELL Learner performance on a construct ion selected for its difficulty for L2 learners of English (indirect speech) was taken as a measure of intake. Data on pattern s of behaviour were obtained through log files to gauge pmticipants' awareness of form during task completion. Results revealed that all learners improved their performance on the construction selected after the treatment. However, the FoF group outperformed the other two groups. In tern1s of the contributing factors, task type, modality of input, processing time and number of trials were identified as effective factors. Contrary to what studies of classroom learners have shown, learners in the FoF and FoS groups chose not to focus on fonn even when they were stuck. They mostly behaved instead like FoM learners. This behaviour vitiates the effectiveness ofFoF or FoS in a TELL environment. The behaviour of one learner from each group was examined to aiTive at a more nuanced picture of these differences. These tlu-ee learners exhibited flip-flop behaviour where they kept switching between items. However, the FoS learner showed a more confident route which , however , resulted in lower attainment. The FoM learner displayed a more confused route. Finally the FoF learner showed a mixed pattern that ultimately led to better attainment on the target constmction.

[ES] Esta tesis documenta el progreso hacia un modelo de aprendizaje de lenguas online. A pesar de las recientes innovaciones en el aprendizaje online, se necesita un conocimiento más profundo de lo que significa aprender online para poder garantizar que la experiencia del aprendizaje de lenguas sea mejor para todos. Los estudiantes a menudo se sienten abrumados con la tecnología a expensas de una pedagogía adecuada. Esta tesis explora la naturaleza de aprender una lengua online. El estudio investiga cómo los recientes avances tecnológicos han propiciado que el aprendizaje de una lengua se esté transformando, pasando de ser una actividad presencial a ser una actividad online. En el proceso de cambio a un entorno online, los profesores deben aprender nuevas formas de interactuar con los alumnos y compartir conocimientos. Esto significa que debemos volver a pensar cómo adquirirá el alumno las competencias lingüísticas. Esta tesis sostiene que analizar las opiniones de los estudiantes es un paso esencial hacia el diseño y desarrollo de un modelo de aprendizaje de idiomas online. La tesis comienza con la revisión de la literatura existente relacionada con el aprendizaje y la tecnología online (tecnologías multimedia, aprendizaje asistido por ordenador, la relación entre la lingüística de corpus y el aprendizaje de lenguas online, el uso de tecnologías móviles, el uso de juegos, la simulación y la realidad virtual, el impacto de las redes sociales). Para la metodología, hemos utilizado un diseño mixto cuasi experimental. Hemos recogido datos de varias fuentes y los hemos analizado para disponer de la información necesaria para así poder diseñar un modelo de aprendizaje de lenguas online. En primer lugar, se ha llevado a cabo una investigación inicial en el aula para descubrir y analizar algunas ideas básicas que los estudiantes tienen sobre el uso de herramientas para el aprendizaje de idiomas online. En segundo lugar, hemos examinado los contenidos y la estructura de los libros de texto electrónicos como representativos de una especie de paso intermedio hacia un curso de aprendizaje de idiomas online. En tercer lugar, hemos analizado Massive Open Online Courses. En cuarto lugar, ofrecemos un análisis sobre el diseño adecuado y apropiado de cuestionarios. A continuación, presentamos el razonamiento en el que basamos los tres cuestionarios utilizados en nuestra investigación. El primer cuestionario se centraba principalmente en el papel de Internet como herramienta de aprendizaje de idiomas. En el segundo cuestionario los alumnos tuvieron que evaluar sitios web para el aprendizaje de idiomas. En nuestro tercer cuestionario abordamos la cuestión de las actividades de aprendizaje de idiomas. El cuestionario pretendía descubrir las opiniones de los estudiantes sobre diferentes tipos de actividades de aprendizaje de idiomas, que iban desde actividades cortas, tradicionales, formales a actividades de mayor duración tipo proyecto. El Capítulo IV está dedicado principalmente a valorar los resultados del análisis de nuestra investigación inicial en el aula, el análisis de los libros de texto electrónicos y sus correspondientes plataformas online, el análisis de los MOOC para el aprendizaje de idiomas y el análisis de las respuestas de los alumnos a los tres cuestionarios. El Capítulo V presenta un modelo de aprendizaje de idiomas online. Esta investigación contribuye a mejorar la experiencia de aprendizaje de idiomas online al hacer explícitos los pasos que se deben seguir para desarrollar un curso de idiomas online impulsado por la pedagogía y fundamentado en las tecnologías más recientes. El modelo puede convertirse en una herramienta de toma de decisiones (una guía y lista de verificación para el diseño de cursos de idiomas online). Además, contribuye a la discusión sobre la mejor manera de integrar herramientas, tareas y aprendizaje de lenguas, una parte fundamental del proceso de apr
[CAT] Esta tesi documenta el progrés cap a un model d'aprenentatge del llengües en línia. A pesar de les recents innovacions en l'aprenentatge en línia, és necessari un coneixement més profund del que significa aprendre en línia per tal de poder garantir que l'experiència de l'aprenentatge de llengües siga millor per a tots. Els estudiants sovint se senten desbordats davant la tecnologia a falta d'una pedagogia adequada. Esta tesi explora la naturalesa d'aprendre una llengua en línia. L'estudi investiga com els recents avanços tecnològics han propiciat que l'aprenentatge d'una llengua passe de ser una activitat presencial a ser una activitat en línia. En el procés de canvi a un entorn en línia, els professors han d'aprendre noves formes d'interactuar amb els alumnes i compartir coneixements. Açò significa que hem de tornar a pensar com adquirirà l'alumne les competències lingüístiques. Esta tesi sosté que una anàlisi de les opinions dels estudiants és un pas essencial cap al disseny i desenvolupament d'un model d'aprenentatge d'idiomes en línia. La tesi comença amb la revisió de la literatura existent relacionada amb l'aprenentatge i la tecnologia en línia (tecnologies multimèdia, aprenentatge assistit per ordinador, la relació entre la lingüística de corpus i l'aprenentatge de llengües en línia, l'ús de tecnologies mòbils, l'ús de jocs, la simulació i la realitat virtual, l'impacte de les xarxes socials). Per a la metodologia, s'ha usat un disseny mixt quasi experimental. S'han recollit dades de fonts diverses i les hem analitzat per tal de disposar de la informació necessària per poder dissenyar un model d'aprenentatge de llengües en línia. En primer lloc, hem dut a terme una investigació inicial en l'aula per tal de descobrir i analitzar algunes idees bàsiques que els estudiants tenen sobre l'ús de ferramentes per a l'aprenentatge d'idiomes en línia. En segon lloc, hem examinat els continguts i l'estructura dels llibres de text electrònics com representatius d'una espècie de pas intermedi cap a un curs d'aprenentatge d'idiomes en línia, ja que molts d'estos llibres de text vénen acompanyats d'una plataforma en línia. En tercer lloc, hem analitzat Massive Open Online Courses. En quart lloc, fem una anàlisi sobre quin és el disseny adequat per als qüestionaris. A continuació, presentem el raonament en què basem els tres qüestionaris emprats en la nostra investigació. El primer qüestionari se centrava principalment en el paper d'Internet com a ferramenta d'aprenentatge d'idiomes. En el segon qüestionari els alumnes havien d'avaluar llocs web per a l'aprenentatge d'idiomes. En el nostre tercer qüestionari abordàvem la qüestió de les activitats de l'aprenentatge d'idiomes. El qüestionari pretenia descobrir les opinions dels estudiants sobre diferents tipus d'activitats d'aprenentatge d'idiomes, que anaven des d'activitats curtes, tradicionals, formals a activitats de major duració tipus projecte. El Capítol IV està dedicat principalment a valorar els resultats de l'anàlisi de la nostra investigació inicial en l'aula, l'anàlisi dels llibres de text electrònics i les seues corresponents plataformes en línia, l'anàlisi dels MOOC per a l'aprenentatge d'idiomes i l'anàlisi de les respostes dels alumnes als tres qüestionaris. El Capítol V presenta un model d'aprenentatge d'idiomes en línia. Esta investigació contribueix a millorar l'experiència d'aprenentatge d'idiomes en línia en fer explícits els passos que s'han de seguir per a desenvolupar un curs d'idiomes en línia impulsat per la pedagogia i fonamentat en les tecnologies més recents. El model pot convertir-se en una ferramenta de presa de decisions (una guia i llista de verificació per al disseny de cursos d'idiomes en línia). A més a més, contribueix al debat sobre la millor forma d'integrar ferramentes, tasques i aprenentatge de llengües, una part fonamental del procés d'aprenentatge en lí
[EN] This thesis documents the progress towards a model of online language learning. Despite the recent innovations in online learning, greater in-depth knowledge of what it means to learn online is needed to ensure a better language learning experience for everyone. Learners are often overwhelmed with technology at the expense of proper pedagogy. This thesis explores the nature of learning a language online. My research investigates how recent technological advances have meant that learning a language is transforming from being a face-to-face classroom activity to an online activity. In the process of changing to an online environment, teachers are having to learn new ways of interacting with students and sharing knowledge. This means that we need to re-think how a learner is going to acquire a language. This thesis holds the view that an analysis of learner opinions is an essential step towards the design and development of a model of online language learning. The thesis begins by reviewing the existing literature related to online language learning and technology (multimedia technologies, computer assisted language learning, the relationship between corpus linguistics and online language learning, the use of mobile technologies, the use of gaming, simulation and virtual reality, the impact of social networking). For the methodology, we used a mixed quasi-experimental design. We collected data from various sources and analysed it to provide us with the necessary information to be able to design a model of online language learning. Firstly, we carried out some initial classroom research to discover and analyse some basic ideas that students have about the use of tools for online language learning. The objective of this initial classroom research was to try to become familiar with the type of tools they used and what language skills they thought they would develop with these tools. Secondly, we examined the contents and structure of e-textbooks as representative of a kind of halfway house to an online language learning course as many of these e-textbooks come accompanied by an online platform. Thirdly, we analysed Massive Open Online Courses: their impact on online learning and online language learning. Fourthly, we provide a discussion about appropriate and suitable questionnaire design. This includes discussion of the questionnaire design process. Then, we present the thinking behind the three questionnaires used in our research. The first questionnaire focussed mostly on the role of the internet as a language learning tool. It tried to elicit from students what they know about online learning in general and, more particularly, online language learning. Our second questionnaire was a questionnaire where students had to evaluate language learning websites. Our third questionnaire covered the issue of language learning activities, where the questionnaire aimed to discover student opinions about different kinds of language learning activities, which ranged from formal, traditional, short activities to longer project type activities. Chapter IV is mainly concerned with discussing results from the analysis of our initial classroom research, analysis of e-textbooks and their associated online platforms, analysis of MOOCs for language learning and analysis of learner responses to three questionnaires. Chapter V presents a model of online language learning. This research contributes to enhancing the online language learning experience by making explicit the steps that need to be taken to construct an online language course which is driven by pedagogy and informed by the latest technologies. The model can become a decision-making tool (a guide and checklist for designing online language courses). Furthermore, it contributes to the discussion of how best to combine tools, tasks and language acquisition, a fundamental part of the online learning process.
Galstyan Sargsyan, R. (2019). Towards the Development of an Effective Online Language Learning Model in a University Environment [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/117609
TESIS

The undergraduate Computer Science program at Virginia Tech is the largest in the Commonwealth of Virginia, of which a key component is ``CS 1044: Introduction to Programming'', and is typical of a first course in computer programming throughout the USA. While the student access to learning resources has improved considerably with the development of web-based assets, students are still expected to use the same sophisticated program development tools as are used in industry. The perceived complexity of the learning environment currently in use drives many women and minority students from the Computer Science program. A great deal of attention has been paid to the need to administer the student assignments and the grading system for this course, so as to minimize the teaching/grading load, but little attention has been paid to the methodologies of learning the material through practice. The work reported herein is intended to improve the pedagogy of this course by creating and integrating teaching/learning tools that better manage the student's engagement in the use of program development activities. Following the implementation of a three-element software system involving an interpreter for the C-language, a program development environment, and a data-monitoring/collectiondevice, the system was deployed in support of the freshman course in parallel to the commercial system commonly used. The experiment concentrated on examining the impact of the simplified development environment and the effort required for students to complete assigned programming projects.
Ph. D.