Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Learning through language'
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Babarsad, Omid Bakhshandeh. "Language Learning Through Comparison." Thesis, University of Rochester, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10618060.
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Natural Language Understanding (NLU) has been one of the longest-running and the most challenging areas in artificial intelligence. For any natural language comprehension system having a basic understanding of entities and concepts is a primary requirement. Comparison, where we name the similarities and differences between entities and concepts, is a unique cognitive ability in humans which requires memorizing facts, experiencing things and integration of concepts of the world. Clearly, developing NLU systems that are capable of comprehending comparison is a crucial step forward in AI. In this thesis, I will present my research on developing systems that are capable of comprehending comparison, through which, systems can learn world knowledge and perform basic commonsense reasoning.
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Harwath, David F. (David Frank). "Learning spoken language through vision." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/118081.
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Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2018.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 145-159).
Humans learn language at an early age by simply observing the world around them. Why can't computers do the same? Conventional automatic speech recognition systems have a long history and have recently made great strides thanks to the revival of deep neural networks. However, their reliance on highly supervised (and therefore expensive) training paradigms has restricted their application to the major languages of the world, accounting for a small fraction of the more than 7,000 human languages spoken worldwide. This thesis introduces datasets, models, and methodologies for grounding continuous speech signals at the raw waveform level to natural image scenes. The context and constraint provided by the visual information enables our models to efficiently learn linguistic units, such as words, along with their visual semantics. For example, our models are able to recognize instances of the spoken word "water" within spoken captions and associate them with image regions containing bodies of water. Further, we demonstrate that our models are capable of learning cross-lingual semantics by using the visual space as an interlingua to perform speech-to-speech retrieval between English and Hindi. In all cases, this learning is done without linguistic transcriptions or conventional speech recognition - yet we show that our methods achieve retrieval scores close to what is possible when transcriptions are available. This offers a promising new direction for speech processing that only requires speakers to provide narrations of what they see.
by David Frank Harwath.
Ph. D.
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Khatibi, Miandouab Ece, and Eva Cowie. "Language learning through interactive games." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Lärarutbildningen (LUT), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-29804.
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The purpose of this study was to investigate language learning through the use of interactive games. A research synthesis was considered to be the most effective method as it was our intention to explore the research available on language learning and gaming. Although various studies have investigated the employment of interactive games in language learning, this field of research is still in its infancy. We juxtaposed neural correlates of language learning with that of interactive gaming and the findings indicated that there are both similarities and differences in the brain structures activated by gaming and those that are activated by language learning. Furthermore, we set out to investigate the employment of interactive games in the language classroom. Our findings indicated that interactive games are highly underused tools in language learning. In addition, we were able to identify techniques which could be used to employ interactive games in language learning. The technological advancement in our society which has shown to have a great impact on the youth of today has given rise to an increasing need for incorporating technology such as interactive games in education and for this reason it is necessary for teachers to receive education in implementing interactive games in the language classroom.
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Zhao, Yifan. "Language Learning through Dialogs:Mental Imagery and Parallel Sensory Input in Second Language Learning." University of Toledo / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1396634043.
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Pouke, S. (Saara). "Learning English through Finnish as a foreign language." Master's thesis, University of Oulu, 2019. http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/nbnfioulu-201905302269.
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Abstract. The purpose of this case study is to investigate how English language learning happens in an environment where the language used to facilitate learning is a foreign language for the learner. The research uses sociocultural theory as basis for understanding the phenomenon as students and teacher in a multilingual classroom bring their own language and culture to an environment to engage in acquisition of a third language. The method for research was a semi-structured group interview of six individuals who all spoke a dialect of Persian and had spent two years in Finland. A thematic analysis of the interview yielded eight themes that were divided to two groups; one focused on the community level of language learning and the other on multilingualism in language learning. The community level focused on classroom and student interaction, and analysis showed that both Finnish and the L1 were used as a tool for understanding what was being taught in the classroom. Learning happened in the classroom, between peers and autodidactically, and attitudes towards learning were brought from the home country to the classroom. Motivators, outside the aim, were mostly positively related to the teacher and negatively related to competition between peers. The aim for language acquisition was English as a lingua franca. Multilingualism on the individual level was equally present in both in language acquisition and use. Finnish was used as a support for learning grammar and vocabulary especially in relation to its link as a language used in a Western culture, however the L1 was the preferred language for learning especially when students studied on their own as this language too had similarities to English to draw from. Students’ choice in language in speech reflected both preference due to proficiency as well as word choice due to linking languages to various environments. Translation was the most important tool in learning and Finnish was a useful language in this regard due to the translation programmes yielding better results in this language. Language loss was related to the proficiency in the specific language as well as how demanding the environment was as Finnish and English were both prone to language loss though Finnish less so due to being used at a school environment. The L1 was susceptible to language loss as everyday interaction did not demand as high a level of language use.Tiivistelmä. Tämän tapaustutkimuksen päämääränä on selvittää, kuinka englanninkielen opiskelu tapahtuu ympäristössä, jossa opetuskieli on oppilaalle vieras. Tutkimus käyttää lähtökohtana sosiokulttuurista teoriaa, jolloin tarkastelussa tärkeänä pidetään näkökulmaa, jossa oppilas ja opettaja tuo oman kulttuurin ja kielensä opiskeluun ja nämä yhdistyvät kieliluokassa kolmannen kielen opiskeluun. Tutkimusmetodina käytössä oli kuuden henkilön puolistrukturoitu ryhmähaastattelu, jossa kaikki osallistujat puhuivat jotain persiankielen murretta ja olivat olleet Suomessa kaksi vuotta. Haastattelun temaattisen analyysin avulla syntyi kahdeksasta teemasta kaksi suurempaa ryhmää; yksi keskittyi opiskeluun yhteisötasolla ja toinen monikielisyyteen. Opiskelu yhteisötasolla keskittyi vuorovaikutukseen sekä luokassa että oppilaiden välillä. Haastattelun analyysi osoitti, että sekä L1 että suomen kieli olivat luokassa työvälineinä, joiden avulla opetettavaa materiaalia pystyttiin ymmärtämään. Oppimista tapahtui luokassa, oppilaiden välillä, sekä autodidaktisesti ja oppilaat toivat kotimaastaan oppimiseen liittyviä asenteita. Motivaattorit, itse kielen oppimisen syyn lisäksi, liittyivät enimmäkseen positiivisesti opettajaan ja negatiivisesti oppilaiden väliseen kilpailuun. Englannin oppimisessa oppilaat tähtäsivät kielen käyttöön yhteiskielenä. Monikielinen taso keskittyy yksilön kielen opiskeluun ja oli myös näkyvissä yksilöiden kielenkäytössä. Suomea opiskelijat käyttivät sanaston ja kieliopin opiskeluun varsinkin koska suomen kieltä, kuten myös englantia, käytetään länsimaissa. Oppilaiden L1 oli silti käytössä varsinkin yksin opiskelussa, sillä myös tässä kielessä on kielellisiä yhteyksiä englannin kieleen. Oppilaiden kielivalintaan vaikutti se mitä oli mukavinta käyttää. Tämä näkyi yksittäisissä sanavalinnoissa, riippuen siitä mitä kieltä oppilas käytti tietyssä kontekstissa. Kääntäminen oli kielen oppimisessa tärkein työkalu ja suomen kieli oli tähän liittyen käytännöllinen käännösvälineiden tarkkuuden vuoksi. Kielen häviäminen liittyi paitsi kielitaitoon, myös siihen kuinka vaativaa kielenkäyttöä ympäristö vaati, sillä englanti ja suomi molemmat saattoivat kärsiä huonon kielitaidon takia, vaikkakin suomi vähemmän koska se oli koulukieli. Häviäminen näkyi myös L1-kielessä koska ympäristö ei vaatinut korkeatasoista kielenkäyttöä.
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Arêas, da Luz Fontes Ana B. "Developing lexical competition resolution mechanisms through reading experience." To access this resource online via ProQuest Dissertations and Theses @ UTEP, 2008. http://0-proquest.umi.com.lib.utep.edu/login?COPT=REJTPTU0YmImSU5UPTAmVkVSPTI=&clientId=2515.
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Dickinson, Ethan Charles. "Analyzing Language Change and Cue Correlation Through an Iterated Language Learning Paradigm." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/144335.
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Westenskow, Florencia. "Experiences in Professional Development Through Project-Based Language Learning." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2018. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/7047.
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Project-based Language Learning (PBLL) provides students with opportunities to use the target language purposefully and to interact with culturally authentic materials. Because PBLL holds critical benefits for its students, it is important that teachers learn best practices for implementation and how to overcome the challenges that PBLL brings. This study focuses on the experiences of 15 world language teachers as they participated in a PBLL professional development series developed by the National Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC) at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. Findings from this study are based on data gathered from surveys and interviews with a diverse group of educators for the purpose of gaining an understanding of what participants learned and the activities that impacted learning of PBLL. Results show that learning about gold standard elements of PBLL made the biggest impact on participants' pedagogical beliefs and motivated them to change their practice. Activities that positively impacted learning were those that were active, social, and related to practice. Participants were overwhelmed with the amount of content and needed help making connections between the content and their teaching contexts. Overall, participants' experiences in the professional development series led to a change in pedagogical beliefs and a desire to alter their implementation of PBLL.
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Lyu, Yeonhwan. "Simulations and Second / Foreign Language Learning: Improving communication skills through simulations." See Full Text at OhioLINK ETD Center (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing), 2006. http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/view.cgi?toledo1147363791.
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Lessing, Sara. "ComPron : Learning Pronunciation through Building Associations between Native Language and Second Language Speech Sounds." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Människa-datorinteraktion, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-414819.
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Current computer-assisted pronunciation training (CAPT) tools are too focused on what technologies can do, rather than focusing on learner needs and pedagogy. They also lack an embodied perspective on learning. This thesis presents a Research through Design project exploring what kind of interactive design features can support second language learners’ pronunciation learning of segmental speech sounds with embodiment in mind. ComPron was designed: an open simulated prototype that supports learners in learning perception and production of new segmental speech sounds in a second language, by comparing them to native language speech sounds. ComProm was evaluated through think-aloud user tests and semi-structured interviews (N=4). The findings indicate that ComPron supports awareness of speech sound-movement connections, association building between sounds, and production of sounds. The design features that enabled awareness, association building, and speech sound production support are discussed and what ComPron offers in comparison to other CAPT-tools.
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Chivers, Amanda Jane. "Ordinary magic : developing speech and language therapy through action learning." Thesis, University of Salford, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.400771.
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Quinlan, Jennifer Karen. "Exploring Language Learning Through the Lens of Online Speaking Labs." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2019. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/7573.
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With the growth of technology-enhanced language learning comes increased use of online applications and interventions in language education. The articles in this dissertation consider the role of technology in online language courses taught at Brigham Young University. Three perspectives on the use of online speaking labs are considered. The first article considers the Conversation Café, an online speaking lab intervention, from an evaluative perspective. Usage, user perceptions regarding effectiveness, and financial viability of the café are evaluated. Findings reveal student usage is not as high as required in coursework, students have a more favorable perception of the intervention than faculty and teaching assistants, and that the café is not offered and staffed appropriately to meet financial viability thresholds set by stakeholders. The second article addresses the common perception that online courses lack elements of sociocultural theory. It reports on the approach the university took to the course development, sociocultural aspects of implemented interventions, and preliminary evaluative findings regarding the effectiveness of the interventions. The final article is a case study examining student experiences in online and face-to-face French speaking labs. This article considers student satisfaction with online and face-to-face labs as well as preference for one type or the other. Findings reveal student preference toward and higher satisfaction of the face-to-face. Negative student comments regarding the online setting in particular tended to focus on elements of convenience rather than aspects essential for learning. Implications for further research are discussed.
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Current, Daniel C. "Language Learning Through Contextual Input in a Virtual Reality Enviroment." University of Toledo / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1341613840.
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Oliveira, Isabel Maria Soares Pinto de. "English for tourism : contribution to language use through mobile learning." Doctoral thesis, Universidade de Aveiro, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10773/15997.
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Doutoramento em LinguísticaTourism is growing and is becoming more competitive. Destinations need to find elements which demonstrate their uniqueness, the singularity which allows them to differentiate themselves from others. This struggle for uniqueness makes economies become more competitive and competition is a central element in the dynamics of Tourism. Technology is also an added value for tourism competitiveness, as it allows destinations to become internationalised and known worldwide. In this scenario, research has increased as a means to study Tourism trends in fields such as sociology and marketing. Nevertheless, there are areas in which there is not much research done and which are fundamental: these are the areas concerned with identities, communication and interpersonal relations. In this regard, Linguistics has a major role for different reasons: firstly, it studies language itself and through it, communication, secondly, language conveys culture and, thirdly, it is by enriching language users that innovation in Tourism and in knowledge, as a whole, is made possible. This innovation, on the other hand, has repercussions in areas such as management, internationalisation and marketing as well. It is, therefore, the objective of this thesis to report on how learning experiences take place in Tourism undergraduate English language classes as well as to give an account of enhanced results in classes where mobile learning was adopted. In this way, an alliance between practice and research was established. This is beneficial for the teaching and learning process because by establishing links between research based insight and practice, the outcome is grounded knowledge which helps make solid educational decisions. This research, therefore, allows to better understand if learners accept working with mobile technologies in their learning process. Before introducing any teaching and learning approach, it was necessary to be informed, as well, of how English for tourism programmes are organised. This thesis also illustrates through the premises of Systemic Functional Linguistics that language use can be enhanced by using mobile technology in Tourism undergraduate language classes.
O setor do Turismo está em franco crescimento e é cada vez mais competitivo. Por estes motivos, cada destino precisa de encontrar formas de demonstrar a sua singularidade que lhe permita diferenciar-se dos demais. A necessidade de oferecer características singulares torna as economias mais competitivas e a concorrência é um elemento central na diferenciação. A tecnologia assumese como uma mais-valia para a competitividade no setor turístico, pois permite a internacionalização dos destinos. Neste cenário, a investigação acerca das tendências no setor aumentou em diversas áreas, nomeadamente na Sociologia e no Marketing. No entanto, existem áreas em que não existe ainda muita investigação: tais como a área das identidades, comunicação e relações interpessoais. Neste campo os estudos linguísticos têm um papel importante por diversas razões: em primeiro lugar, estudam a língua em uso, em segundo lugar, a lingua é o veículo que permite o intercâmbio cultural e, por fim, é através do enriquecimento dos seus falantes que é possível inovar no setor do Turismo e no conhecimento como um todo. Esta inovação, por outro lado, tem repercussões em áreas como a gestão, a internacionalização e o Marketing. É, portanto, objetivo desta tese dar a conhecer experiências de uso de língua que ocorrem em aulas de língua Inglesa com alunos de Turismo, assim como mostrar os resultados de reforço de uso de língua em contextos em que a aprendizagem através de dispositivos móveis foi adotada. Para o efeito, desenvolveram-se estratégias que conciliaram a investigação e a prática letiva que foram benéficas para o processo de ensino/aprendizagem uma vez que permitiram tomar decisões educativas fundamentadas na investigação. A presente tese permite compreender melhor se os alunos aceitam trabalhar com tecnologias móveis no processo de aprendizagem. Permite, igualmente, compreender de que forma estão organizados os tópicos dos programas de língua Inglesa em cursos de Turismo. Por fim, esta tese também ilustra através das premissas da Linguística Funcional Sistémica, que o uso da língua pode ser reforçado recorrendo às tecnologias móveis em aulas de língua Inglesa em cursos de Licenciatura em Turismo.
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Cheng, Lap C. L. "Secondary students' incidental English language learning through a computer game." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2014. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.685433.
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Learning English is not easy and it may be very frustrating to many second language learners. The dissertation investigates incidental English language learning among Hong Kong senior secondary ESL students while playing a commercial-off-the-shelve (COTS) English simulation computer game, namely, Football Manager 2013 (FM 2013). The subjects in this study were forty students studying at a secondary school. Students were examined on what and how new knowledge of English such as vocabulary, phrases and expressions, and technical terms they could gain while playing Football Manager 2013. Four research questions were addressed. A multi-method approach was adopted to collect extensive data. A pre-game test, a post-game test and a questionnaire survey were used as the main methods for quantitative data collection. Observation during the gaming sessions by the researcher and a focus group interview were adopted to collect qualitative data. Drawing upon the research, the important findings were threefold. Firstly, the students generally show a promising attitude towards learning English through the use of Football Manager 2013, either in their daily lives or in English lessons. Secondly, it demonstrates that the students increase their English items by 27.2% as a result of gameplay interaction with Football Manager 2013. Thirdly, the students employ a wide range of English learning strategies to discover and retain the meaning of new English items in the multimodal environment of Football Manager 2013. Simultaneously, the researcher posits that commercial-off-the-shelve English simulation computer games are important media today that might be able to provide context-rich, cognitively engaging virtual environments for incidental English language learning.
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Young, Eric H. "Promoting Second Language Learning Through Oral Asynchronous Computer-Mediated Communication." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2018. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/7051.
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Learning to speak a foreign language (L2) can be a challenging feat, made all the more challenging when done in only 50 minute, daily increments in class. Oral asynchronous computer-mediated communication (ACMC) provides learners with opportunities to practice spoken communication and evaluate their practice outside the classroom. In this dissertation, I explore methods for classroom integration of oral ACMC, linguistic traits developed in previous oral ACMC studies, methods for determining the effectiveness of oral ACMC, learner beliefs about the effectiveness of oral ACMC activities, and the effects of learners' deliberate practice in a series of oral ACMC activities on 3 measures of L2 fluency. In my first article, a literature review, I found that most studies on this topic focus on the linguistic traits of accuracy, fluency, and pronunciation, and determine L2 growth from oral ACMC activities through learner perceptions of L2 growth not relying on objective measures. In my second article, I analyzed the fluency change of learners who participated in a series of video recording and feedback activities. I found that, although there were few significant results, the activities may be of some benefit to learners in improving their spoken fluency. I also found that structural equational modelling may be of more value for researching classroom-based activities than t tests and regression models. In my third article, I investigated the experiences of several learners who participated in the video recording activities described in article two. Based on these learner experiences, I provided key considerations for designing asynchronous video recording assignments. The three articles included in this dissertation will be valuable in highlighting key factors related to the design, development, research, and effective use of oral ACMC activities in foreign language classrooms.
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Marsolais-Johnson, Suzanne Florence. "Enhancing foreign language learning through the integration of computer technology." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2004. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2672.
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This thesis demonstrates the effectiveness of using computer technology and the Internet to enhance classroom teaching. A variety of computer and internet based projects that complement lessons initiated by the classroom teacher provide real life situations for additional practice, reinforcement, motivation and greater student achievement.
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Girón, García Carolina. "Learning Styles and Reading Modes in the Development of Language Learning Autonomy through "Cybertasks"." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Jaume I, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/125440.
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La tesis doctoral que nos planteamos realizar se enmarca dentro de la investigación que el grupo GIAPEL (Grupo de Investigación y Aplicaciones Pedagógicas en Lenguas) ha venido realizando desde su creación en 1991. El trabajo del GIAPEL está orientado al diseño de tareas de aprendizaje de las lenguas alemanas, francesas e inglesas; centradas en el desarrollo de estrategias de comprensión lectora y de aprendizaje autónomo de la gramática de las lenguas.
Esta tesis parte de resultados previos obtenidos a lo largo de los diferentes proyectos llevados a cabo por el grupo. Deriva directamente de la investigación realizada en el proyecto I+D CIBERTAAAL (Cibergéneros y Tecnologías Aplicadas a la Autonomía de Aprendizaje de Lenguas. Estudio de las estrategias y de los modelos pragmático-cognitivos en la producción y en la recepción de los textos digitales) (HUM2005-05548/FILO/TIC2000-1182), en el que los principales pilares sobre los que se asentará nuestra investigación son: la autonomía de aprendizaje de lenguas, los estilos cognitivos y de aprendizaje, las Tecnologías de la Información y de la Comunicación, y los estudios de género en la era digital (cibergéneros).
Nuestro principal objetivo es estudiar en profundidad la relación existente entre los estilos de aprendizaje de los estudiantes universitarios y los diferentes modos de navegación y lectura que realizan cuando se enfrentan a tareas que exigen el manejo y tratamiento de la información alojada en páginas web.
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Thadphoothon, Janpha, and n/a. "Promoting critical thinking in language learning through computer-mediated collaborative learning: a preliminary investigation." University of Canberra. Languages, International Studies & Tourism, 2005. http://erl.canberra.edu.au./public/adt-AUC20060804.141259.
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This thesis proposed a framework for conceptualizing critical thinking in language
learning. A learning environment where collaborative learning and network
technology were combined − computer-mediated collaborative learning (CMCL) −
was set up. The main aim was to study the potential of the learning environment in
promoting critical thinking (CT) in language learning. The proposed framework of
CT in language learning had three aspects: (1) communication, (2) reasoning, and
(3) self-reflection.
The study was a qualitative one that took place between June 2003 and January
2004. Three case studies were undertaken that involved up to 90 participants,
comprising students, teachers, volunteers, and the researcher. All were members of
an online learning community, the Bamboo Enterprise. Students worked in groups
that investigated environmental problems. The student projects were grouped into
three case studies: (1) Using Collaborative Environmental Projects to Promote
Communicative Language Learning and Computer Skills, (2) Using Environmental
Themes in Computer-Supported Cooperative Learning to Prepare ESL Students for
Academic Study in the Australian University Environment, (3) Promoting
Communicative Language Learning Through Computer-Supported Cooperative
Learning. Findings were based on analyses of five sources of data: (1) interviews
with the student participants; (2) teachers comments and opinions; (3)
questionnaires; (4) students overall group work; and (5) online discussions.
The investigation found that, overall, the CMCL environment with its particular
framework had the potential to promote CT in language learning. However, it had
both strengths and weaknesses. The strengths were that it promoted the
communicative use of English, encouraged critical thinking in action, and extended
the students potential to learn a second language. It also encouraged the appropriate
use of technology. More importantly, this CMCL environment showed itself to be a
viable method of learning and one in which both students and teachers can be
empowered. However, along with these advantages, some avenues for improvement
were evident. The study found that the students grammatical accuracy was low,
despite their rich vocabulary and ability to use complex language structures. Some
students found working in groups challenging and some never acquired the
necessary web skills. Access to the Internet was not always adequate for this type of
project. In sum, the students needed more support, especially at the task level, when
using this method of language learning.
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Harrison, Avery. "Exploring Measurement Estimation Through Learners Actions, Language, and Gestures." Digital WPI, 2019. https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/etd-theses/1282.
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This thesis intends to advance educational research by providing exploratory insights about the roles of, and relationships between, the actions, language, and gestures of college and elementary-aged students surrounding measurement estimation. To the best of my knowledge, prior research has examined the role of speech and gestures as they relate to areas of mathematics such as algebra and geometry, however, this work has not been extended to the area of measurement. Similarly, language and gesture have been explored but the three-way interplay between actions during problem-solving, and the language and gestures observed during explanations after problem solving has not been investigated in mathematics. To actualize the findings from this research in practice, this thesis uses the findings from two studies on behavior during measurement tasks to propose text and image support for an elementary-aged measurement game, EstimateIT!, to support students as they practice how to measure objects and develop conceptual skills through embodied game play. Specifically, this thesis intends to provide 1) a synthesis of the work on gestures in mathematics as well as the research methods used to study gestures, 2) a coding guide to analyze the gestures of mathematics learners, as well as their actions and language, 3) an application of the coding guide to explore the behavior of college and elementary students during measurement estimation tasks, and 4) proposals for action-guiding support for EstimateIT! to help elementary students develop and reinforce an understanding of measurement during gameplay based on the more mature strategies demonstrated by college students as they complete similar tasks.
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Sandoval, Michelle, Dianne Patterson, Huanping Dai, Christopher J. Vance, and Elena Plante. "Neural Correlates of Morphology Acquisition through a Statistical Learning Paradigm." FRONTIERS MEDIA SA, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/625334.
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The neural basis of statistical learning as it occurs over time was explored with stimuli drawn from a natural language (Russian nouns). The input reflected the "rules" for marking categories of gendered nouns, without making participants explicitly aware of the nature of what they were to learn. Participants were scanned while listening to a series of gender-marked nouns during four sequential scans, and were tested for their learning immediately after each scan. Although participants were not told the nature of the learning task, they exhibited learning after their initial exposure to the stimuli. Independent component analysis of the brain data revealed five task- related sub- networks. Unlike prior statistical learning studies of word segmentation, this morphological learning task robustly activated the inferior frontal gyrus during the learning period. This region was represented in multiple independent components, suggesting it functions as a network hub for this type of learning. Moreover, the results suggest that subnetworks activated by statistical learning are driven by the nature of the input, rather than reflecting a general statistical learning system.
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Cederborg, Thomas. "A Formal Approach to Social Learning: Exploring Language Acquisition Through Imitation." Phd thesis, Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux I, 2013. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00937615.
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The topic of this thesis is learning through social interaction, consisting of experiments that focus on word acquisition through imitation, and a formalism aiming to provide stronger theoretical foundations. The formalism is designed to encompass essentially any situation where a learner tries to figure out what a teacher wants it to do by interaction or observation. It groups learners that are interpreting a broad range of information sources under the same theoretical framework. A teachers demonstration, it's eye gaze during a reproduction attempt and a teacher speech comment are all treated as the same type of information source. They can all tell the imitator what the demonstrator wants it to do, and they need to be interpreted in some way. By including them all under the same framework, the formalism can describe any agent that is trying to figure out what a human wants it to do. This allows us to see parallels between existing research, and it provides a framing that makes new avenues of research visible. The concept of informed preferences is introduced to deal with cases such as "the teacher would like the learner to perform an action, but if it knew the consequences of that action, would prefer another action" or "the teacher is very happy with the end result after the learner has cleaned the apartment, but if it knew that the cleaning produced a lot of noise that disturbed the neighbors, it would not like the cleaning strategy". The success of a learner is judged according to the informed teachers opinion of what would be best for the uninformed version. A series of simplified setups are also introduced showing how a toy world setup can be reduced to a crisply defined inference problem with a mathematically defined success criteria (any learner architecture-setup pair has a numerical success value). An example experiment is presented where a learner is concurrently estimating the task and what the evaluative comments of a teacher means. This experiment shows how the ideas of learning to interpret information sources can be used in practice. The first of the learning from demonstration experiments presented investigates a learner, specifically an imitator, that can learn an unknown number of tasks from unlabeled demonstrations. The imitator has access to a set of demonstrations, but it must infer the number of tasks and determine what demonstration is of what task (there are no symbols or labels attached to the demonstrations). The demonstrator is attempting to teach the imitator a rule where the task to perform is dependent on the 2D position of an object. The objects 2D position is set at a random location within four different, well separated, rectangles, each location indicating that a specific task should be performed. Three different coordinate systems were available, and each task was defined in one of them (for example ''move the hand to the object and then draw a circle around it"). To deal with this setup, a local version of Gaussian Mixture Regression (GMR) was used called Incremental Local Online Gaussian Mixture Regression (ILO-GMR). A small and fixed number of gaussians are fitted to local data, informs policy, and then new local points are gathered. Three other experiments extends the types of contexts to include the actions of another human, making the investigation of language learning possible (a word is learnt by imitating how the demonstrator responds to someone uttering the word). The robot is presented with a setup containing two humans, one demonstrator (who performs hand movements), and an interactant (who might perform some form of communicative act). The interactants behavior is treated as part of the context and the demonstrators behavior is assumed to be an appropriate response to this extended context. Two experiments explore the simultaneous learning of linguistic and non linguistic tasks (one demonstration could show the appropriate response to an interactant speech utterance and another demonstration could show the appropriate response to an object position). The imitator is not given access to any symbolic information about what word or hand sign was spoken, and must infer how many words where spoken, how many times linguistic information was present, and what demonstrations where responses to what word. Another experiment explores more advanced types of linguistic conventions and demonstrator actions (simple word order grammar in interactant communicative acts, and the imitation of internal cognitive operations performed by the demonstrator as a response). Since a single general imitation learning mechanism can deal with the acquisition of all the different types of tasks, it opens up the possibility that there might not be a need for a separate language acquisition system. Being able to learn a language is certainly very useful when growing up in a linguistic community, but this selection pressure can not be used to explain how the linguistic community arose in the first place. It will be argued that a general imitation learning mechanism is both useful in the absence of language, and will result in language given certain conditions such as shared intentionality and the ability to infer the intentions and mental states of others (all of which can be useful to develop in the absence of language). It will be argued that the general tendency to adopt normative rules is a central ingredient for language (not sufficient, and not necessary while adopting an already established language, but certainly very conducive for a community establishing linguistic conventions).
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Berlinger, Randi S. "Negotiating Identities Through Langauge,Learning, and Conversation." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/194420.
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This ethnographic study explored everyday lived experiences of a group of Latina women in school and in the community in an Adult Basic Education (ABE) setting. I examined the functions of discourse in ABE in literacy events (Heath, 1983). In this way, I gained insights into literacy practices through ethnography of communication (Heath, 1983; Hymes, 1972, 1977; Philips, 1993; Saville-Troike, 2003). Narratives provided insights about what was communicated in everyday interactions.In a "teaching to the test" ideological environment, the Latina participants in this study shared knowledge and experiences and created a unique sociocultural (Vygotsky, 1978) context for learning. Over time, a community of practice (Wenger, 1998) developed through mutual engagement, joint effort, and shared repertoire which included in and out of school literacies. Salient was the collaborative effort among a local community center, community college, and school district which strived to meet the needs of Latina/o students and their families. These multiple communities of practice provided a support network integral to sustaining a community of learners.The backdrop of this study, an American-Mexican Southwest border region, was the cultural context in which American education and Latinas' Sonora Mexican world views met. This hybrid space or borderlands Anzaldua (1987) described as a place where two cultures merged to form a third culture. In practice, this hybrid space was explored in discursive practices which provided an alternative space, a third space (Moje, Cicechanowski, Kramer, Ellis, Carrillo, & Collazo, 2004) in which identities were negotiated. Participants negotiated to find balance, a synergy between change and maintenance, which was ongoing as they struggled to maintain a traditional world view while accommodating new ideas.Integral to ongoing identity construction were the relationships with language, learning, and conversation. A story emerged from daily acts and events that reflected negotiated individual and social identities in the practice of literacy, teaching, and learning. This study demonstrates the insights ethnographic investigations can bring to understanding the functions of discourse in the construction of identity and socialization into learning.
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Toyoshima, Saeko. "Evidence from Learning Histories Elicited through Structured Conversations: Continuity in English Language Learning in Japan." Thesis, University of York, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.485145.
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The present research investigates how learners' experiences when they started learning English influenced their learning at later stages in the Japanese learning context. The hypothesis was that if learners experienced a relatively large number of interactions with teachers and peers at the early stages, the use of social strategies would become the basis of their learning behaviours, and they would attempt to continue their learning in the same style later, which would lead them ~ to develop a sufficient metacognitive awareness towards learning to use metacognitive strategies as well as the other strategies. The main research method was learning history interviews, and two questionnaires, Oxford's (1990) SILL and a learners' background questionnaire, were used as a second source. The informants were Japanese 'university students: 9 in the first pilot study, 14 in the second pilot study, and 20 in the main study. The process of the research made it clear that the interviews became more naturalistic conversations within the topics structured beforehand - structured conversations. Three findings were illustrated in the main study. First, four learners in the study who thought of English as a tool for' communication experienced a relatively large number of interactions with teachers and pe~rs both in English and Japanese, and used social and metacognitive strategies as their preferred strategies. Another four informants who thought of English as a school subject did not show any significantly different characteristics in their learning behaviours. Second, not only what they actually experienced in the classroom but also the relationships between two informants in the study and their first teachers affected their strategy use at later stages. Finally, an informant who had had a personal struggle derived from. the gap between what she had experienced at t.he early stages of learning and the later stages tried to control her learning in order to learn English enjoyably and freely, which led her to the use ofmetacognitive strategies.
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Lee, Kam-fong. "Enhancing students' collaborative learning through CMC discussion." Click to view the E-thesis via HKUTO, 2003. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B40040057.
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Dag, Nilgun. "Emergence Of Verb And Object Concepts Through Learning Affordances." Master's thesis, METU, 2010. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12612459/index.pdf.
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Researchers are still far from thoroughly understanding and building accurate computational models of the mechanisms in human mind that give rise to cognitive processes such as emergence of concepts and language acquisition. As a new attempt to give an insight into this issue, in this thesis, we are concerned about developing a computational model that leads to the emergence of concepts. Specically, we investigate how a robot can acquire verb and object concepts through learning affordances, a notion first proposed by J. J. Gibson in 1986. Using the affordance formalization framework of Sahin et al. in 2007, a humanoid robot acquires concepts through interactions in
an embodied environment.
For the acquisition of verb concepts, we take an alternative approach to the literature, which generally links verbs to specific behaviors of the robot, by linking them to specific effects that different behaviors may generate. We show how our robot can learn effect prototypes, represented in terms of feature changes in the perception vector of the robot, through demonstrations made by a human supervisor.
As for the object concepts, we use the affordance relations of objects to create object concepts based on their functional relevance. Additionally, we show that the extracted eect prototypes corresponding to verb concepts can also be utilized to discover stable and variable properties of objects which can be associated to stable and variable affordances.
Moreover, we show that the acquired concepts provide a suitable basis for communication with humans or other agents, for example to understand and imitate others'behaviors or for goal specication tasks. These capabilities are demonstrated in simple interaction games on the iCub humanoid robot platform.
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Trent, Kenneth F. "Learning Languages Through the Media: Toward an Understanding of the Mediated Language Acquisition Process and the Motivation Cycle of Mediated Language Acquisition." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2011. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/2712.
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Utilizing in-depth interviews and constant comparative analysis through a qualitative approach, this research study examined the development of second language acquisition of US immigrants via the mass media as a part of the acculturation process. Nine international students (or international spouses of students) of a major midwestern university participated in 25-60 minute interviews. Based on participant responses, the author formulated the mediated language acquisition process, or the process by which the participants acquired English as an additional language with the help of the mass media. Additionally, motivation was found to be the primary indicator of the rate of language acquisition. The motivation cycle of mediated language acquisition attempts to describe the elements and factors involved in the increase or decrease of motivation during mediated language acquisition. Finally, the author presents some key findings of the study, regarding types of media and message which were most beneficial to participants as they acquired English as a new language.
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Neethling, Bertie. "Xhosa acquisition through e-learning : learner needs and development challenges." Journal for New Generation Sciences : Socio-constructive language practice : training in the South African context : Special Edition, Vol 6, Issue 3: Central University of Technology, Free State, Bloemfontein, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/11462/515.
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Published ArticleThe contribution argues that there is a renewed interest by mainly Afrikaans and English speaking South Africans in learning another indigenous South African language. This came about as a direct result of the changed official language policy, elevating all the indigenous Bantu languages to that of being official. It is further argued that many individuals interested in learning a new language, do not have the time or the inclination to do so in a formal classroom context. Access to a computer has increased dramatically in the last two decades, and hence e-learning becomes a viable option in this regard. The contribution argues that computer-assisted language learning (CALL) can very sensibly complement and even substitute the language teacher. Some existing computer-assisted language courses aimed at learning Xhosa are briefly explored, and finally the attention is turned to the particular challenges experienced in developing an interactive multimedia Xhosa acquisition course within the Multitaal framework.
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Pujadas, Jorba Geòrgia. "Language learning through extensive TV viewing. A study with adolescent EFL learners." Doctoral thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/668091.
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This doctoral dissertation explores the benefits of an extensive exposure to L2 television for content comprehension and vocabulary learning with beginner, adolescent EFL learners, through a longitudinal classroom-based intervention. The study also aims at investigating the role of frequency and imagery in word learning, and evaluating the long-term effects this type of intervention may have on learners’ attitudes towards the use of L2 television for language learning purposes. In order to do so, several aspects were examined, including factors related to the intervention, the learner, and the input itself. Four classes of Grade 8 students viewed 24 consecutive episodes of a TV series – spaced over an academic year – under four experimental conditions, with each class being assigned to a different treatment. Two classes viewed the episodes with English [L2] captions, and two with Spanish [L1] subtitles. One class in each language condition received, additionally, explicit instruction on target lexical items. The first study in this thesis looked at the differential effect of captions and subtitles on viewing comprehension, alongside several mediating factors. Results confirmed the higher efficiency of subtitles over captions for content comprehension at this level of proficiency, and the importance of prior vocabulary knowledge when viewing with captions. It was also found that the episodes’ lexical coverage was a strong predictor of comprehension, although no pattern of improvement could be observed over time – even though learners’ perceived comprehension increased by the end of the intervention. In the second study, word-form and word-meaning gains were examined, following a pre- / post-test design. Results revealed that having explicit instruction on vocabulary (i.e. being pre-taught the words through short pre-viewing activities) yielded significantly higher vocabulary gains, and that proficiency played a key role in how learners made use of this type of input. Language of the on-screen text, however, did not emerge as a predictor of gains, although when captions were displayed this tended to lead to higher learning, especially when combined with instruction. Results also indicated that there was a positive correlation between vocabulary gains and comprehension, and that a high percentage of the vocabulary learnt was retained in the long
term. The third study focused on the effects of word repetition, spacing, and imagery support. Analysis showed that words with a higher number of encounters or that appeared in a massed condition (i.e. in the same episode) were better learnt. It was also found that words that were image-supported had also higher learning gains. The last study looked into learners’ perceptions and feeling of learning from viewing audio-visual input in English through questionnaires and interviews. Students reported being highly motivated to learn through L2 videos, finding them useful for a number of language aspects, including vocabulary learning, listening comprehension, and matching aural and written forms of the words. Data also showed a shift in viewing habits in the long term, indicating the appropriateness of this type of classroom intervention to foster autonomous viewing at home. Taken as a whole, the results from this dissertation provide evidence that extensive viewing of captioned and subtitled TV series supports comprehension and L2 vocabulary learning. The characteristics of this type of input (i.e. repeated encounters with words, imagery) have been shown to contribute to facilitate language learning. Additionally, EFL learners, at this age and proficiency level, are motivated to learn through this media – in and outside the formal setting.Aquesta tesi doctoral explora els beneficis d’una exposició prolongada a programes de televisió en llengua estrangera a través d’una intervenció longitudinal a l’aula amb estudiants d’anglès novells. La tesi, dividida en quatre estudis, se centra en la comprensió del contingut, l’adquisició de vocabulari, els efectes de la freqüència d’aparició de les paraules i la imatge, i les actituds dels estudiants envers aquest tipus d’input com a eina d’aprenentatge. Per tal d’investigar aquests aspectes, quatre classes de 2n d’ESO van veure 24 episodis consecutius d’una sèrie de televisió en quatre condicions experimentals, definides per la combinació de la llengua dels subtítols (anglès (L2) o castellà (L1)) i l’ensenyament del vocabulari (amb formació explícita o sense). Pel que fa a la comprensió, els resultats han confirmat que els subtítols en llengua nadiua són més eficaços, que el nivell de vocabulari en anglès juga un paper significatiu quan la sèrie es mira amb subtítols en anglès, i que el nivell de complexitat lèxica dels episodis (lexical coverage) també prediu el nivell de comprensió. En relació a l’adquisició de vocabulari, els resultats indiquen que ensenyar les paraules abans de veure l’episodi (a través d’activitats breus) comporta guanys significativament majors, i que el nivell de competència en anglès és clau a l’hora de beneficiar- se d’aquest tipus d’input. També s’ha trobat que els guanys en vocabulari estan relacionats amb el nivell general de comprensió, i que gran part de les paraules apreses es retenen a llarg termini. L’anàlisi de freqüència, la distribució i el suport visual de les paraules a demostrat que les paraules que més es repeteixen, i les que apareixen concentrades en el mateix episodi, així com les paraules acompanyades de la seva imatge, són més fàcils d’aprendre. Finalment, quant a les actituds dels alumnes, s’ha trobat que els estudiants estan motivats per a aprendre anglès a través d’aquest tipus d’input, i s’ha observat un canvi d’hàbits de consum de material audiovisual com a conseqüència de la intervenció. En conjunt, aquesta tesi doctoral demostra que una exposició prolongada a sèries de televisió en anglès pot potenciar l’aprenentatge de la llengua estrangera, gràcies a les seves característiques inherents (p. e. la repetició del vocabulari i la presència de les imatges) i el suport addicional del subtítols i les activitats de vocabulari.
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Kagwesage, Anne Marie. "Coping with Learning through a Foreign Language in Higher Education in Rwanda." Doctoral thesis, Linköpings universitet, Pedagogik och vuxnas lärande, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-90165.
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The overarching aims of this thesis are to investigate how students in higher education in Rwanda experience learning through the medium of a foreign language, mainly English, and the strategies they employ in order to successfully complete their university studies during a period of both language and educational change. Taking a sociocultural perspective, the thesis subscribes to a qualitative research design. Interviews were used in order to gain in-depth understanding of how higher education students reflect on, handle and cope with learning through a foreign language. Video and audio recorded interactions of students’ formal and informal group discussions were used to capture some of the seen but unnoticed linguistic and communicative details that might be of interest in shedding light on aspects related to learning in a foreign language. Four empirical studies show that students face different challenges in using the newly adopted language of learning and teaching. They are, however, aware of the fact that the globalisation process and dissolution of national boundaries may create new opportunities and are therefore willing to upgrade their English in order to cope with the new academic situation. Findings show that active use of multiple languages, although time consuming, has great potential to facilitate learning, thus emphasizing the complementarities rather than the exclusion of languages used in Rwanda. Also, teacher and student initiated group discussions have the potential to promote knowledge construction in content subjects as students afford a context for confident participation. Although the mother tongue is not officially recognised as language of instruction in higher education, it plays a mediating role for the negotiation of meaning of domain specific content through responsible code switching and translanguaging.Det övergripande syftet för denna avhandling är att undersöka hur studenter inom högre utbildning i Rwanda erfar att lära på ett främmande språk, i huvudsak engelska, och vilka strategier de använder sig av för att lyckas genomföra sina universitetsstudier i en tid av förändring av både undervisningsspråk och undervisningen i sig. Avhandlingen tar sin utgångspunkt i ett sociokulturellt perspektiv och en kvalitativ forskningsdesign. Intervjuer genomfördes för att få fördjupad förståelse för hur studenterna reflekterar över och hanterar problemet med att lära på ett främmande språk. Video- och audioinspelade interaktioner av studenternas formella och informella gruppdiskussioner användes för att fånga och analysera språkliga och kommunikativa detaljer som förekommer men ofta förbises eller tas för givna. Fyra empiriska studier visar att studenterna möter olika utmaningar när de måste använda ett nyligen introducerat främmande språk i undervisningen och i olika lärandesituationer. De är emellertid medvetna om att globalisering och upplösning av nationella gränser kan skapa nya möjligheter och är därför villiga att förbättra sin engelska för att kunna klara av den nya undervisningssituationen. Analyserna visar också att aktiv användning av en mångfald av språk, även om det är tidsödande, har stor potential att underlätta lärande och på så sätt betonas den komplementerande snarare än den exkluderande synen på språkanvändning i Rwanda. Dessutom visar det sig att diskussioner i grupp initierade av både lärare och studenter har en potential att stödja konstruktionen av kunskap inom akademiska ämnen eftersom studenterna skapar en tillitsfull miljö där de är trygga att delta. Studierna visar också att trots att modersmålet inte är officiellt erkänt som undervisningsspråk spelar det en medierande roll i framförhandlandet av innehållet inom olika ämnesområden genom olika former av gränsöverskridande språkande där alla språk som studenterna har tillgång till används.
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Wand, Ann Elizabeth Lewis. "Half spaghetti - half Knodel : cultural division through the lens of language learning." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2016. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:d6391d08-30ea-4b78-8fce-c7ac684eb74a.
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South Tyrol, which is situated on the border between Austria and Italy, has been considered a 'peace model' by many nation-states since the creation of the province's autonomy statutes. The objective of these statutes was to allow for minority protection of the German- and Ladin-speaking communities while also permitting Austria to be the 'protector' of South Tyrol even though the province is situated in Italy. Another bi-product of these statutes was the creation of the 'separate but equal' education system, which allowed the German-, Italian- and Ladin-speaking communities to have individual schools in order to protect their culture and language identity. In the past several decades, there has been an increase in 'mixed' marriages with members of differing language groups producing bilingual children. Additionally, civil service positions now require that all applicants have a mandatory comprehension of the L2, or in some cases L3, in order to apply for certain posts. As the education system tries to adjust to local concerns regarding the insufficient teaching of the L2 in monolingual education, the concept of South Tyrol as a 'peace model' is brought into question. In this thesis, I examine how the South Tyrolean school system is reflective of society at large as its divided education mirrors the current fissures existent amongst the language communities. With parents looking for alternative measures to instruct their children in the L2, some residents would prefer a bilingual schooling option to encourage inter-group assimilation. Furthermore, I discuss, outside of education, external social factors in the region which impact L2 learning creating language learning 'blocks' and 'victim' versus 'conqueror' mentalities. The objective of this research is to try and understand how South Tyrol continues to be in transition as the province adjusts to more bilingualism despite the historical need to preserve the language minorities.
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Prapinwong, Malinee. "Constructvist language learning through WebQuests in the EFL context an exploratory study /." [Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2008. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3331410.
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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Literacy, Culture and Language Education, 2008.Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 24, 2009). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-11, Section: A, page: 4219. Adviser: Larry Mikulecky.
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Sorensen, L. M. "Teach yourself? : language learning through self-instruction manuals in nineteenth-century Scandinavia." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2010. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/904/.
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To learn a foreign language from a self-instruction manual (teach-yourself book) is not as easy as the publishers will have us believe. Despite this, the genre has endured for many centuries. This thesis argues that the robustness of self-instruction language manuals is due to their ability to adapt to the personal circumstances of their readers. By surveying ordinary nineteenth-century Scandinavians, it is established that they turned to self-directed learning as a consequence of social and economic developments in the region. At the time, early globalisation was felt in terms of increased travel and trade. As a consequence, people needed to acquire foreign languages for the purpose of everyday communication. Because this area of second language acquisition was practical and took place outside formal education, it has not been accepted as part of the history of applied linguistics. I argue that ‘utilitarian language learning' deserves to be included as an example of the current theory of autonomous learning. I also draw the conclusion that autonomy is actually one of the reasons why self-instruction manuals are not as effective as traditional language teaching, because the learners take charge of their own learning process and as a result often suffer from lack of motivation and opportunities to practise the language. I do, however, maintain that the works themselves are not inherently inept. The nineteenth-century methods were actually an improvement upon existing methods by focusing on the spoken rather than the written language. Finally, I investigate why abstract notions of language, culture and identity were not present in works that could essentially disseminate elitist ideas to the general population. I argue that because the genre was highly commercialised, the authors deliberately chose to exclude topics that had political undertones and the potential to alienate parts of the readership.
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Chan, Ting-man Samuel. "Fostering process approach to Chinese writing through cognitive strategy instruction." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 2000. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B22278308.
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B, Dunn Laura. "Intercambios : integrating community exchanges into the language classroom-challenges, logistics and inspiration through the process /." Click here to view full-text, 2006. http://sitcollection.cdmhost.com/u?/p4010coll3,294.
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Danielsson, Kajsa. "Second Language Development through OnlineGaming : A Literature Study." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Pedagogiskt arbete, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-25485.
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English is a part of our lives from an early age, and it is important that pupils engage themselves in learning the language. Today many pupils have access to a computer and can play online games in collaboration with others from around the world. This study aims to examine how online gaming can help pupils develop their second language. By studying prior research and analysing the results, it was found that there are several factors which may have an effect on pupils’ second language development. Through online games, motivation increases. Also, the interaction with both native English speakers as well as other second language learners within the games, form immense language input from authentic communication. These findings show that there are possible benefits in playing online games. However, there is a need for much further research to get a clear overview over the possible affects online games have for pupils second language development.Engelska
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Rothwell, Julia C. "Let's eat the captain! Thinking, feeling, doing : intercultural language learning through process drama." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2013. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/63847/1/Julia_Rothwell_Thesis.pdf.
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This research investigated the sustained use of process drama in a middle school foreign language classroom. The experience led to widespread learner engagement, a deeper contextualisation of the language as a socio-cultural practice, and a willingness to use the spoken and written language, regardless of limited proficiency. The drama required that language use be context and culture specific, contingent and multi-modal, which encouraged the beginner students to "mushfake" or improvise spoken and written text. Particularly important was the way the body was used through drama to express emotion, remember language and to illustrate the sociocultural context of its use.
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Shrewsbury, Eric-Gene Jackson. "Interaction through Asynchronous Audio-Based Computer Mediated Communication in the Virtual Foreign Language Classroom." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/26144.
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Because distance learning (DL) programs provide students educational opportunities with minimal restrictions on location and/or time, the number of institutions that provide DL courses has grown at a tremendous rate over recent years and is projected to increase in the future. Foreign language courses through DL, however, have been criticized for limited opportunities to engage in speaking activities and to develop oral proficiency. While previous research consistently reports no significant differences, the focus of those studies has been the comparison of outcomes assessments between face-to-face and DL courses. This study analyzed the types of interactions that occurred in the virtual foreign language classroom while using asynchronous audio-based CMC, known as voice boards, to learn Spanish at a rural community college located in Southwestern Virginia, Patrick Henry Community College (PHCC). An embedded multiple-case study design and computer mediated discourse analysis were applied with activity theory to analyze the interactions holistically. During a 10-year period, the amount of students enrolled in on-line only courses or in the virtual campus at PHCC increased from 97 students in the summer 2001 session to 655 students in the summer 2011 session. These results showed a 575.3% (n = 558) increase of students enrolled in DL. Only 37.7% (n = 507) of the students attending the community college during the summer 2011 session were enrolled in only FTF courses. These increases were a result of studentsâ needs to pursue degrees of higher education while working and taking care of family and other personal obligations. Students enrolled in the SPA 101: Beginning Spanish I course explained that employment schedules, family obligations, and financial reasons motivated their decisions for taking a DL course. When completing audio-based discussion board assignments, experimentation with the language was observed and participants took advantage of opportunities to listen to recordings multiple times before submitting responses. Forty-seven percent of the utterances were categorized as containing questions to encourage continued discussion. However, lexical chains for those utterances showed that only 11.6% (n = 11) of the utterances followed a three link chain of initial post-response-response (IRR) that represented extended conversations in the voice boards.Ph. D.
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Charbonneau-Gowdy, Paula. "Forbidden fruit : identity, power and investment issues in learning a second language through computer mediated communication." Thesis, McGill University, 2005. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=100334.
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In this inquiry, I use ethnographic research methods to uncover the tensions that a selected group of military officers and students from Central and Eastern Europe and Asia experienced learning English in Canada and in Europe. In both settings, I use a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach to the inquiry to critically explore with the participants their experiences using computers for second language learning. We negotiate changes to their current perceptions of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) through the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC). This communication involved writing-based exchanges at the Canadian site and using state-of-the-art audio video transferring technology, in a multi-site videoconferencing setting with Europe. The study took place between 2001 and 2004. During the four phases of the study, I collected data through observations of online interchanges, collaborative dialogic interviews and participants' written texts in the form of journals and e-mails. Other important data sources included videotapes and field notes taken at the Canadian site and during three field trips to the European sites. I draw on Vygotsky's socio-cultural approach to language, Bakhtin's concept of learning as dialogic and Weedon's notion of identity as dynamic, constructed and contested through Discourses. The work of these three theorists helps to frame my understanding of the historical, political, cultural, pedagogical and personal influences on this multicultural group of English language learners as they negotiated their learning in a unique setting. The participants' stories suggest that video-based computer technology not only supported some of their investment in using their second language orally but also enabled them to construct more powerful subjectivities. The identity construction that took place in English online is an important consideration for these individuals from evolving democracies that are struggling for international connection and recognition. I argue that more stories need to be told so that SL researchers can re-examine their understanding and theories of language learning and communicative practices to include computer technology. I suggest that stories such as these also have important implications for learners, educators and policy makers as they consider their teaching and learning practices with computers in their second language learning contexts.
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Ohashi, Yumi. "Teaching and learning through interaction : a case study of Japanese children learning English as a foreign language." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2005. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/339/.
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This thesis presents an analysis of interaction within an EFL classroom in a Japanese primary school. Adopting a sociocultural perspective of learning, the study explores the applicability of "guided participation" (Rogoff, 1990) as an approach to understanding the process of classroom language learning. It is a concept in which learning is Viewed as increased "participation" ("Participation metaphor" Sfard, 1998) in the activities of a community, achieved by mediation through language use and structuring. Drawing on sociocultural theory, a method of discourse analysis was developed to reveal the educational processes involved in discourse. Data obtained from eight lessons was transcribed and coded for discourse actions, actions whose pedagogic functions are realised through the mediational use of language. Seven discourse patterns emerged, among them capturing the major characteristics of participation. One pattern in particular involving teacher assistance emerges as having the potential to promote a transformation of pupil language use and participation. Discourse patterns were further examined to identify how opportunities / "affordances" (Gibson,1979) for participation emerge. Drawing on an ecological perspective, a method of analysis for "affordances" in the EFL classroom was developed. Six dimensions of affordances were identified and an examination of the interplay of these dimensions in each discourse pattern carried out. As a result, four types of affordance were identified, two of which, "Strong affordance" and "Contingent affordance", emerge as the most effective for enhancing pupil participation. Analysis further revealed (1) the existence of multiple affordances within a task or an activity, (2) the importance of the teacher's role in the facilitation of affordances, (3) the importance of the active agency of a learner and (4) the complex interplay between learner and environment, the ecology of the classroom. The research also analysed a problematic class to identify causes of negative participation. The thesis concludes that the process of "guided participation" is observable in classroom discourse as pupils make use of affordances available in the environment,, suggesting that a sociocultural method of discourse analysis along with the concept of affordances and an ecological method of analysis for affordances is a valuable means of illummating the complex, social and interactional nature of language learning in the primary EFL classroom. Finally, the findings of the study imply that a greater focus by teachers upon "guided participation" has the potential to enhance the learning process in the formal world of the primary classroom.
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Wen, I.-chun. "THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LEARNING THROUGH DRAMA IN TEACHING CHINESE AS A SECOND LANGUAGE." Miami University / OhioLINK, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1435882138.
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Lee, Kam-fong, and 李錦芳. "Enhancing students' collaborative learning through CMC discussion." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2003. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B40040057.
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Yu, Ka-yan Florence. "Learning English through films a case study of a Hong Kong class /." Click to view the E-thesis via HKUTO, 2009. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B43241244.
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De, Stefani Sofia Magdalena. "Exploring the possible : empowering English language teachers in provincial Uruguay through blended learning." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2012. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/exploring-the-possible-empowering-english-language-teachers-in-provincial-uruguay-through-blended-learning(6ac02b10-91d1-4f5e-ae37-27ef417823d7).html.
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This action research study explores the role of blended learning as a tool for the professional empowerment of teachers of English as a foreign language in provincial and rural areas of Uruguay. Specifically, a three-year blended teacher development programme designed to facilitate professional empowerment by integrating face-to-face and online learning opportunities is examined through Garrison, Anderson and Archer’s (2000) Community of Inquiry framework as well as through Kumaravadivelu’s (2001, 2006b) Postmethod parameters of particularity, practicality and possibility. Findings suggest that blended learning can facilitate the professional empowerment of teachers in geographically-removed areas by fostering their movement towards higher levels of cognitive thinking. The teaching, social and cognitive activity in a blended setting is distributed over the face-to-face and online learning arenas, with the teaching and cognitive ‘presences’ being embedded in the social. While the highest levels of cognitive activity are rarely visible in participants’ virtual discourse, this discourse refers to other environments where cognitive activity is more clearly evidenced, such as participants’ assessed work and classroom practices. In short, the Community of Inquiry parameters offer a lens through which to visualise effective course design and pedagogy for teacher education in this context, by providing a language to articulate what is particular about the setting, what participants perceive as practical and ultimately what is possible for them to achieve in terms of empowerment and emancipation. These parameters are explored through the examination of the whole-group processes as well as the in-depth analysis of two participants’ individual journeys. This study also foregrounds the complexity and richness of action research, especially in terms of the multiplicity of roles determined by the researcher’s immersion in the field, and highlights the need for extensive reflexivity. The academic, professional and situated contributions indicated above are identified, as is the potential for further research in this and other similar settings.
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Jernite, Yacine. "Learning Representations of Text through Language and Discourse Modeling| From Characters to Sentences." Thesis, New York University, 2018. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10680744.
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In this thesis, we consider the problem of obtaining a representation of the meaning expressed in a text. How to do so correctly remains a largely open problem, combining a number of inter-related questions (e.g. what is the role of context in interpreting text? how should language understanding models handle compositionality? etc...) In this work, after reflecting on the notion of meaning and describing the most common sequence modeling paradigms in use in recent work, we focus on two of these questions: what level of granularity text should be read at, and what training objectives can lead models to learn useful representations of a text's meaning.
In a first part, we argue for the use of sub-word information for that purpose, and present new neural network architectures which can either process words in a way that takes advantage of morphological information, or do away with word separations altogether while still being able to identify relevant units of meaning.
The second part starts by arguing for the use of language modeling as a learning objective, and provides algorithms which can help with its scalability issues and propose a globally rather than locally normalized probability distribution. It then explores the question of what makes a good language learning objective, and introduces discriminative objectives inspired by the notion of discourse coherence which help learn a representation of the meaning of sentences.
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Eckhardt, Micah Rye. "StoryScape : fun technology for supporting learning, language and social engagement through story craft." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/98651.
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Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2015.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 127-133).
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that affects approximately 1-in-68 persons and 1-in-42 boys. Challenges related to communication form a core characteristic of the ASD condition. Literature suggests the single most important prognostic indicator for young children diagnosed with ASD is communication ability. Yet, engaging children diagnosed with ASD in communication centered activities is one of the cardinal challenges presented by the condition and contributes to poor outcome. This work explores the development, implementation and testing of StoryScape, a platform for engaging children diagnosed with ASD in communication centered activities. Through extensive work with the ASD community, I have sought to develop a more holistic learning technology around communication. The StoryScape platform connects web, mobile, and physical technologies through interactive stories, enabling fun and engaging learning through story creation and other activities. While the main focus of this work is related to children diagnosed with ASD, I also present a number of exploratory studies conducted with neurotypical children. In total, six exploratory studies, three with children diagnosed with ASD and three with neurotypical children, are presented. These studies demonstrate the many uses of StoryScape, and were critical for eliciting feedback on usability and design features during its iterative development. In addition, I present the results from a seven-week study of story co-creation, conducted as a whole-class activity with students diagnosed with ASD. Results show a statistically significant increase in vocal expressions during use of StoryScape. Students also demonstrate a strong preference for the StoryScape activity compared to other activities. Teachers reported being surprised by the high level of student engagement and cooperation with each other, and they reported that students looked forward to using StoryScape daily. While teachers reported meaningful communication improvements during use of StoryScape for all of their students, one student was described by his teacher as "a totally different student when using StoryScape."
by Micah Rye Eckhardt.
Ph. D.
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Wahlberg, Sara. "Teaching and Learning Protein Synthesis through Domain-Specific Language in Upper Secondary Education." Licentiate thesis, Karlstads universitet, Institutionen för ingenjörs- och kemivetenskaper (from 2013), 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-70684.
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The aim of this licentiate thesis is to contribute to understanding of upper secondary teaching and learning of protein synthesis with a focus on domain-specific language. It is based on two studies, designated Studies I and II. Study I addressed upper secondary students’ understanding of protein synthesis through their usage of domain-specific concepts. Data collected through semi-structured group interviews show that students can better reason about core concepts than peripheral concepts, and they compartmentalise the concepts into five clusters. Study II focused on chemistry and biology textbooks’ presentation of protein synthesis through domain-specific concept usage and effects of context on these presentations. The textbooks were analysed using a content analysis approach involving data mining techniques implemented by a computer-generated algorithm. The results reveal that chemistry textbooks focus more on peripheral concepts and generally tend to identify fewer relationships among more concepts than biology textbooks, which emphasise core concepts and tend to highlight more relationships among fewer concepts. Jointly, Studies I and II reveal four facets of teaching and learning protein synthesis: ‘mechanistic or conceptual descriptions’, ‘compartmentalisation’, ‘mRNA as a core concept’ and ‘canonical representation’. By acknowledging the results reported herein, teaching can improve the facilitation and reduce the hindrance in learning protein synthesis through the awareness of the domain-specific language usage.Proteins are crucial to life: no proteins – no life. Every picosecond, thousands of proteins are constructed in each cell in what is referred to as protein synthesis. Due to its importance for understanding the mechanism for life, protein synthesis is globally regarded as a cornerstone of molecular life sciences and education in the field. Like any area of expertise, the molecular life sciences share a domain-specific language. However, research on teaching and learning protein synthesis through this domain-specific language is scarce. The aim of this licentiate thesis is thereby to contribute to understanding of upper secondary teaching and learning of protein synthesis with a focus on domain-specific language. The thesis is based on two studies: Study I addressed students’ understanding where the results show that students can better reason about core concepts than peripheral concepts, and they compartmentalise the concepts into five clusters. Study II focused on chemistry and biology textbooks’ presentation and effects of context on these presentations. The results reveal that chemistry textbooks focus more on peripheral concepts and generally tend to identify fewer relationships among more concepts than biology textbooks, which emphasise core concepts and tend to highlight more relationships among fewer concepts. Jointly, Studies I and II reveal four facets of teaching and learning protein synthesis. By acknowledging the results reported herein, teaching can improve the facilitation and reduce the hindrance in learning protein synthesis through the awareness of the domain-specific language usage.
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Nam, Jue Yeun. "Achieving English competence in Korea through computer-assisted language learning and crosscultural understanding." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2001. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/1865.
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The purpose of this project is to address the problems and improve English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning for the students of Korea by contrasting cultural similarities and differences and the same time utilizing computer-based instruction learning.
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Wilson, Hope Marshall. "Teaching Language and Culture Through Online Ethnographic Explorations." The Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1573901116368513.
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Corbo, Elizabeth. "Learning through Language: A Study of the Appropriation of Academic Language of Sixth Grade Learners across Content Areas." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1302884209.
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