Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Teaching of Russian as foreign language'

The present study explores the impact that task-supported language teaching (TSLT) and task- based language teaching (TBLT) have on the acquisition of case forms and verbs of motion in Russian and on learners’ written and oral production. From a methodological point of view, the study follows a pre-test – immediate post-test – delayed post-test design. Data have been obtained from first and second year students of the University of Barcelona (n=54) with a low level of proficiency in Russian. Each learner was assigned to a task-supported (TS) or task-based (TB) group and received 14 hours of corresponding treatment. The TSLT treatment for the first year students focused on the use of prepositions and case forms, and the treatment for the second year students involved the Russian verbs of motion with and without prefixes. For the TBLT treatment, the acquisition of the same linguistic items was analysed. These items were present in the tasks designed for the experiment. Data were obtained by means of three grammar tests (fill in the blanks, multiple choice and grammaticality judgment tests), a written task which required learners to write a letter / an email to a friend and two oral tasks (room description and map task). Measures include the target-like use of prepositions, case forms and verbs of motion in the grammar tests and in oral and written production, the number of errors per words for general accuracy, the number of clauses per T-unit and the mean length of clause for syntactic complexity, Guiraud’s Index of lexical richness for lexical complexity, and speech rate for oral fluency. Statistical tests related to the use of prepositions and case forms show that both approaches provided positive results in the immediate post-test, however, neither task-supported nor task-based treatment led to a significant improvement in the long-term perspective. On the other hand, participants in both groups demonstrated a significant improvement in the target-like use of verbs of motion produced in their oral and written performance and used in their grammar tests. In written production, learners’ syntactic complexity measured by means of clauses per T- unit and lexical complexity significantly increased after the treatment, whereas phrasal complexity (mean length of clause) did not change over time. Written accuracy significantly improved in both groups immediately after the treatment. However, learners in the TB group maintained this improvement three months after the treatment, whereas the accuracy of learners in the TS group decreased to the level they had before the treatment. In oral production, learners in both groups significantly improved their general accuracy in the performance of the map task. Lexical complexity and fluency improved in both oral tasks. As for syntactic complexity, no changes were found in any of the tasks. The comparison of the effects that the two types of treatment have had on different aspects of learners’ production reveals that participants in the TS and the TB groups have not significantly differed on accuracy, syntactic complexity and fluency of their oral and written performance. Task-supported and task-based treatments also had a similar effect on accuracy in the use of Russian prepositions and case forms. However, learners in the TB group have showed significantly better results than learners in the TS group as far as lexical complexity and the target-like use of verbs of motion are concerned.
El presente estudio explora el impacto en la adquisición del ruso como lengua extranjera de TSLT (Task-supported language teaching) y TBLT (Task-based language teaching). El objeto de análisis es la adquisición de los casos y de los verbos de movimiento en la producción oral y escrita en los parámetros de la complejidad, corrección y fluidez. El estudio experimental sigue el diseño de pre-test ‒ post-test inmediato ‒ post-test diferido. Los datos han sido obtenidos a partir del trabajo con estudiantes de primer y segundo curso de la Universidad de Barcelona (n=54) con un nivel elemental de competencia en lengua rusa. Dos grupos de estudiantes han trabajado con la metodología TSLT y otros dos con TBLT. Cada uno de los 4 grupos ha recibido 14 horas de formación. Los datos analizados se han obtenido a partir de tests gramaticales (espacios en blanco, selección múltiple y tests de gramaticalidad), una tarea escrita consistente en escribir una carta a un amigo, y dos tareas orales (la descripción de una habitación y una Map task). El análisis estadístico de la adquisición de las preposiciones y las formas declinadas muestra que tanto con TSLT como TBLT se consiguen resultados satisfactorios en el post-test inmediato, pero no en el post-test diferido. En cambio, independientemente del tipo de instrucción, los participantes sí han demostrado progresos significativos en su competencia de los verbos de movimiento. En la producción escrita, la complejidad sintáctica medida en proposiciones por T-unit y la complejidad léxica aumentan significativamente después de la instrucción. La corrección mejora significativamente en ambos grupos en el post-test inmediato y en el post-test diferido del grupo TBLT. En la producción oral, los estudiantes de ambos grupos mejoran su corrección en la tarea Map task, la complejidad léxica y fluidez en ambas tareas orales, pero no consiguen progresos significativos en lo que respecta a la complejidad sintáctica en ninguna de las dos tareas. La comparación de los dos tipos de instrucción muestra que los estudiantes de los grupos TBLT consiguen mejores resultados que los de TSLT en lo que se refiere a complejidad léxica y verbos de movimiento.

Грамматические темы «Активные и пассивные конструкции», «Причастия» и «Деепричастия» изучаются студентами-иностранцами в курсе русского языка как иностранного на подготовительном отделении и на продвинутом этапе. Эти темы достаточно сложны как для понимания, так и для практического использования, поэтому требуют комплексного подхода в изучении, достаточной и теоретической, и практической подготовки. Опыт работы с иностранцами убедил наших преподавателей в том, что после ПО многие студенты-иностранцы имеют отрывочные и разрозненные знания по данной тематике.

The main purpose of the PhD studies was to analyse the problem of the “not free combinability” between the words of the Russian language, in comparison with the Italian language, paying particular attention to the fixed structures connected with the semantic field of feeling and emotions. The choice to study the “not free combinability” between lexemes, (i.e. to analyse the regular fixed uses between two or more words, usually one next to the other, so that choosing the word “A” to express something, the choice of the word “B” to be combined with “A” is lexically fixed), was due to the interest in studying the rules of Russian language, which influence the fixed combination of words. Moreover, the interest in creating a structured teaching process to present such materials to Italian native speakers played an important role too. The need to analyse the matter not only from a linguistic point of view, but also considering the problem connected to the teaching of languages, was due to the importance of a correct use of such structures, as it guarantees a correct written and oral production and more precision in the translation process. Studying the fixed combinations, first, we tried to define their syntactic and semantic nature and, secondly, to conduct a depth analysis of real linguistic material in order to classify it, searching the common principles, on which base some types of substantives and some types of verbs join permanently to each other. Considering the above explanation, in the first chapter of the dissertation we analysed different linguistic theories that, according to many specialists, allow better to understand the characteristics of those syntactic-lexical structures that cannot be considered idioms, but not even free combinations of words. From this point of view, it was very important studying the works of various linguists such as A.A. Potebnja, F.F. Fortunatov, A.A. Šakhmatov, Ch. Bally, V.V. Vinogradov, N.M. Šanskij e A.I. Molotkov, just to list some names. This analysis enabled us to understand how the material we are interested in has been studied in the history of the Russian linguistic, and it gave us also the possibility to identify why the analysed structures are included in the linguistic science and, more precisely, in phraseology. Particularly important was the study of V.V. Vinogradov’s work. Moving from the Bally’s idea, who considered the structures we are interested in as fixed verbal combinations, used as periphrasis of verbs (prinimat’ rešenije – rešit’ / to make a decision – to decide), he outlined three possible meanings in the connections between the words of a language (prjamoj nominativnoe značenije, frazeologičeski svjazannoe značenije e sintaksičeski obuslovennoe značenije – nominal direct meaning, meaning connected to the phraseology and syntactically bound meaning). Then, on this base, he classified the phraseological structures (frazeologičeskije sraščenija, frazeologičeskije jedinstva e frazeologičeskije sočetanija – phraseological links, phraseological units and phraseological combinations), including the combinations that we are studying in the frazeologičeskije sočetanija (phraseological combinations). Moreover, in the doctoral work we analysed the link between semantic and syntax, on which the phraseological combinations are based. From this point of view, some principles of the G.A. Zolotova’s communicative grammar were very important. Particularly significant was the classification of Russian verbs provided in her study. The G.A. Zolotova’s analysis allowed better to understand the nature of the verb as semantic and structural unit of fixed combinations: in the frazeologičeskije sočetanija (phraseological combinations) to the noun binds almost always a particular type of verbs called, in the communicative grammar, kompensatory (compensators). These verbs, usually binding to an abstract substantive (for example čuvstvovat’ bespokojstvo – to feel concern), increase the semantic meaning of the fixed combination expressed by this substantive and allow to determine the syntactic links, through which the same fixed combination takes place in the entire phrase. The collected linguistic material has been analyzed, firstly, from semantic and structural points of view, and, secondly, it was studied focusing its stylistic characteristics. In fact we underlined how, very often, the choice of the fixed combinations that must be used depends also from the linguistic style of the produced text. Considering the above reflections, the decision to analyze the phraseological combinations related to the sphere of feelings and emotions was not accidental: our study has shown that such structures can be found in different types of languages (literary, journalistic, official, of everyday life etc.) and for this reason it was possible to extend the work taking into account different linguistic styles. For this purpose, we created a linguistic corpus containing a high number of examples of phraseological combinations referred to the semantic field of feeling and emotions. The linguistic material collected in the corpus was divided, firstly, on the basis of the “expressed feeling” (anxiety, hope, happiness, gratitude, curiosity etc.) and, secondly, considering its linguistic style (everyday language, literary language, public language, language of economy and business, journalistic language). In this way, starting from the basis of communicative linguistic, it was possible to conduct the present analysis on real linguistic material, studied inside its context of use. The created linguistic corpus was used as basis for the work carried out in the second chapter, i.e. for the construction of a classification model for the phraseological combinations, object of the dissertation. As underlined, these structures have been studied not only according to the different linguistic styles, but also considering the syntactic and linguistic connections between the words, that compose the phraseological combinations and also between such combinations and the rest of the text in which they are included. We identified four possible syntactic-lexical relations on which basis the substantives that express feelings and emotions join with different verbs. Within these four reports, we studied the types of verbs that join with the various substantives considering the syntactic-lexical relations expressed by the sentence. Thanks to this study it was possible to show that, although there are some exceptions, according to the syntactic-lexical relation that must be expressed, there are some verbs that in a big percentage join in fixed combinations with the most of the substantives of the same semantic field, or with most of those which have similar semantic characteristics. Stylistically and syntactically, we studied how, taking into account the style of the text that we have to produce, it is possible to use the upper mentioned forms, or to substitute them with different structures, which, however, maintain the same semantic value. This part of the analysis showed that the fixed phraseological combinations are stylistically marked structures used, usually, in the literature, in official documents, in journalism. In everyday colloquial language, on the opposite, personal forms, passive participial forms and impersonal predicative forms of the verbs replace such structures. For example, in colloquial language, instead of fixed phraseological combinations as “emu okhvatylo bespokojstvo” (the concern assailed him), prevail forms as “on bespokoitsja” (he is worried), “emu strašno” (he is scared) etc.. For some substantives, then, the choice to substitute the fixed phraseological combination with the correspondent verbal form, or, in some cases, with the passive participial form, depends by the meaning that must be transmitted. For example, the form “on čuvstvuet ljubov’” (he feels love), can be replaced by the expression “on ljubit” (he loves) and by “on vljublen” (he falled in love), but considering that, from a semantic point of view, the forms “on ljubit” (he loves) and “on vljublen” (he falled in love) have different meanings. In the final part of the second chapter, after the linguistic analysis of the collected material, we proposed the hypothesis that these structures can be studied also considering the theory of the so called “kartina mira” (i.e. how the speaker’s conception of the surrounding reality is reflected in the linguistic expressions of a certain people). This hypothesis is based on the idea that in the studied constructions the substantives receive a metaphoric meaning that allow them to join with a specific verb. Both works (the lexical-syntactic analysis and the analysis of the collected expressions from the metaphorical point of view) have been conducted in a contrastive perspective with Italian language. The aim of such decision was constantly to underline the links and the differences between the two languages with reference to the construction and to the use of fixed phraseological combinations. As already mentioned, the linguistic analysis was complemented by a proposal of practical use of phraseological combinations in the teaching of Russian language to the Italian native speakers. This part of analysis was treated in the third chapter of the dissertation. This proposal has taken into account the fundamental principles of foreign language teaching and considered the big literature that describes the particularity in teaching of phraseology, of lexicology and of syntax. After the analysis of existing materials about the teaching of fixed phraseological combinations in Russian as foreign language, and after studying the approaches to the matter in the most common manuals, we defined the linguistic activities related to the choice of material. We considered the meaning of the fixed phraseological combinations, the syntactic possibilities to replace them with other linguistic structures on the base of the used linguistic register, the frequency with which the various fixed structures are used in the different type of texts, the presence, or the absence, of similar structures in Italian language. After choosing the linguistic material, considering the above listed principles, we defined the teaching methodological bases, i.e. how to present the material and how to fix the time for exercises and for control of the skills. As explained, these choices were made considering the teaching of Russian language not to foreigners in general, but in particular to Italian native speakers. The result of the analysis carried out in the third chapter was a concrete proposal of didactic materials, organized for a course of ten lessons, in order to teach the main and most frequent fixed phraseological combinations that must be not only recognized, but also active used in the autonomous production. The material for these ten lessons has been completely organized within the temporal limits of an academic lecture and is followed by other material that presents also the less frequent combinations. The two blocks of teaching material have been distinguished, in order to choose when use only one of them and when use both, depending by the available time for the course. In this way, in the presented work we linked the linguistic theory, the linguistic analysis applied to the created corpus and the fundamental didactic principles, in order to provide the theoretic base for the study of frazeologičeskije sočetanija (phraseological combinations), and also to formulate an hypothesis for practical study of the analyzed structures in a course of Russian language.

La thèse aborde la question de la spécificité de la didactique des langues, et plus précisément du français, en Russie. Les différences linguistiques importantes entre le russe et le français, une des langues étrangères les plus populaires en Russie, ont amené les didacticiens russes à proposer des pistes méthodologiques plus ou moins différentes de celles communément en cours en occident. La première partie propose une étude diachronique des divers courants méthodologiques qui ont jalonné l’histoire de l’enseignement des langues étrangères en Russie. La deuxième partie étudie en quoi ces courants spécifiques y irriguent actuellement l’enseignement du français. La troisième partie contient l’analyse de l’influence des idées théoriques sur le système moderne d’enseignement des langues étrangères en Russie
The following doctoral thesis contains information about foreign language didactics specified in the French language teaching in Russia. Inspite of some major linguistic distinctions, French has always been one of the most popular languages among Russian people. This fact resulted in wide methodological procedures difference from the European educational system. The first part of the thesis provides a diachronic research on various methodologic streams, which gave a new direction for foreign languages teaching in Russia. The second part shows the current situation in teaching French for Russians. The third part is dedicated for analysis of theoretical ideas influencing on present day educational system of foreign languages

При обучении иностранных студентов русскому произношению любое фонетическое явление, подлежащее практическому усвоению, должно быть рассмотрено в двух планах: со стороны системы, к которой оно принадлежит, и со стороны фонетической системы родного языка, в данном случае арабского.

Цель обучения русскому как иностранному включает в себя коммуникативную и образовательную задачи. Коммуникативный принцип, который является ведущим на современном этапе, призван формировать у студентов-иностранцев языковые и речевые умения и навыки. Это дает возможность использовать изучаемый язык во всех видах речевой деятельности.

An essential part of the prerequisite for studying of students and employment process of graduates of UEO is the knowledge of professional economic language. The aim of this dissertation is to contribute to the quality and efficiency of teaching the professional Czech language for foreign students in the University of Economics with a focus on Russian-speaking students. Based on theoretical studies the confirmation of dissertation hypothesis and the achievement of work objects describe and give reasons how and how much the Russian language affects the morphology and lexical linguistic aspects in the case of Russian-speaking students during the process of learning the professional Czech language. The research part of the work with the help of the questionnaire responses analysis confirms the fact that the interlanguage influence in the case of Czech professional language is very strong and is greatly manifested in both positive and negative ways. It was proved that important factors in education are: the origin of foreign students, their level of knowledge of Russian language and teachers' level of Russian language knowledge. The research part is followed by didactic recommendations and proposals of specific methodological procedures and exercises for the most consistent limiting of the negative effects of the Russian language while learning the Czech professional language at the University of Economics in Prague.

Проведенное исследование посвящено изучению event-технологий в методике преподавания русского языка как иностранного на примере фестиваля русского языка «Кириллица-Fest». В первой главе изучены точки зрения специалистов на наиболее распространенные подходы к обучению иностранным языкам, в частности, русскому. В практической части рассмотрены российско-монгольские отношения, статус русского языка в Монголии, подробно проанализирован фестиваль русского языка «Кириллица-Fest» на соответствие критериям event-мероприятия. Описаны принципы и приемы обучения русскому языку в рамках фестиваля. Практическая польза работы заключается в потенциале задействования данной методики в подобных образовательных мероприятиях.
The research is focused on review of event-technologies in the methodic of teaching Russian as a foreign language on the example of «Cyrillic-Fest». The first part examines the views of specialists on the most common approaches to teaching foreign languages, especially Russian. The practical part adresses Russian-Mongolian relations, the status of the Russian language in Mongolia, festival of the Russian language and its conform to the criteria of event-technologies. The principles and techniques of teaching the Russian language in the framework of the festival are described. The practical benefit is in the potential for involving this technique in educational events.

Комплексное изучение языка и культуры, то есть усвоение культурологического содержания с включением языковых средств, ведет к более глубокому уровню владения иностранным языком. В этой связи возникает интерес к фразеологии изучаемого языка как отражению культуры носителей данного языка, национальных традиций и т.д.

Текст – это речевое произведение, связное целое, объединенное одной темой или одним сюжетом [1, 47]. В практике преподавания РКИ текст используется как единица обучения языку и речи. Широкое использование текста на продвинутом этапе обучения объясняется присущими тексту свойствами: познавательной и воспитательной ценностью, большими возможностями для работы над языком, развитием и совершенствованием речевых умений. С методической точки зрения текст полифункционален, он демонстрирует употребление речевых конструкций в их естественном окружении и представляет материал для извлечения языковой информации.

Главной целью обучения студентов-иностранцев на этапе довузовской подготовки является формирование речевой компетенции, дающей иностранным гражданам обучаться в дальнейшем по выбранной специальности. Для этого студенты-иностранцы должны в достаточной мере овладеть устной и письменной речью.

В современной многонациональной студенческой среде обучение иностранному языку и, прежде всего, аспекту «Развитие речи» имеет смысл проводить на примере материалов, относящихся к разнообразной иноязычной культуре, поскольку язык является не только инструментом в обучении и овладении выбранной специальностью, он выполняет еще свою основную функцию, являясь средством общения. Лингвострановедение – направление, которое появилось благодаря накопленному опыту преподавания языка как иностранного.

Данная магистерская квалификационная работа посвящена проблемам употребления видов глагола китайских студентов в русском языке. Актуальность темы исследования определяется следующим: проведение системного анализа проблем употребления видов глагола китайскими студентами при изучении русского языка, с точки зрения межъязыкового взаимодействия. Т. е. влияние китайского на понимание вида русского глагола; выяснение причин допуска ошибок при употреблении вида глагола путем исследования процесса усвоения иностранного языка; системный сравнительно-сопоставительный анализ способов выражения аспектуальных значений в разных языках, который помогает разработать соответствующие методики по обучению видам глагола китайских студентов. Предметом исследования является категория вида русского глагола как в научном, так и в методическом плане, сходство и различие способов выражений аспектуальных значений в русском и китайском языках, межъязыковые влияния при усвоении вида русского глагола. Объектом исследования является процесс изучения видов русского глагола китайскими студентами, и их ошибки в употреблении. Целью является сравнение способов выражения аспектуальных значений в русском и китайском языках, выявление проблемы употребления видов глагола у китайских студентов с точки зрения теории усвоения иностранного языка.
The Master's thesis is devoted to the problems of the using verbal aspects by Chinese students in Russian. The relevance of the research topic is determined by the following: conducting a systematic analysis of the problems of using verbal aspects by Chinese students while studying Russian language, in terms of cross-linguistic influence. That is the influence of Chinese on the understanding of Russian verbal aspects; finding out the causes of errors in the use of verbal aspects by studying the process of foreign language acquisition; a systematic comparative analysis of the expression of aspectual meanings in different languages, which may be useful for developing appropriate methods in teaching verbal aspects to Chinese students. The subject of the study is the category of Russian verbal aspects in both scientific and methodological terms, the similarity and difference of the ways expressing aspectual meanings in Russian and Chinese languages, interlingual influences in learning the Russian verbal aspects. The object of the study is the process of studying Russian verbal aspects by Chinese students and the errors in their usage. The aim is to compare the ways of expressing aspectual meanings in Russian and Chinese languages, to clarify the problem in using Russian verbal aspects by Chinese students from the point of view of the foreign language acquisition theory.

На подготовительном отделении ДМО СумГУ в рамках обучения украинскому и русскому языкам как иностранным выделяется предмет «Развитие связной речи», основная цель которого – интенсивное формирование иноязычных коммуникативных навыков слушателей. Поскольку языковой и речевой материал курса имеет страноведческую, культуроведческую и образовательную направленность, он сконцентрирован в две большие речевые темы. Первая из тем нацелена на формирование, в первую очередь, образовательной ориентации иностранных студентов, которые собираются продолжить образование в университетах Украины. Поэтому эта речевая тема, точнее сказать – комплекс речевых тем, как и соответствующее учебно-методическое пособие, называется « Хочу учиться в СумГУ!». Учебная тематическая экскурсия по университету, которая проводится в связи с изучением комплекса этих взаимосвязанных речевых тем, педагогически и методически целесообразна в качестве заключительного звена мини-курса.

В условиях глобализации и стирания границ в современном мире важную роль играют страноведческие знания как инструмент диалога и толерантности культур, успешной межкультурной коммуникации. Основной целью обучения РКИ иностранных студентов-нефилологов является формирование коммуникативной компетенции, обеспечивающей свободное общение в профессиональной и социокультурной сфере.

Master of Arts
Department of Modern Languages
Mary T. Copple
This study investigates the effectiveness of visuals in the language classroom. Two types of visual aids commonly used in the language classroom, video and still pictures, are used to elicit narratives from L2 English speakers, and these narratives are subsequently compared. The data come from eleven international students from a university English Language Program, who voluntarily participated in two separate 15-minute interviews. In each interview session, they were shown either a series of pictures or a video, both depicting a story. Upon completion of the presentation of each visual, participants were asked a prompt question and their narration of the events portrayed in the visuals recorded. The narratives were transcribed and analyzed in order to test (1) if still pictures and video are equally effective in eliciting elaboration in the narratives, defined in this case, as the number of new referents introduced and the number of adjective and verb types produced; and (2) if exposure to still pictures and video elicit narrations of similar length. Both kinds of visuals stimulated learners to create narratives and elaborate on what had been shown in them. The video task elicited narratives roughly 10% longer than the picture task in regards to the raw number of words. When linguistic factors were compared, participants introduced new referents at comparable rates in both tasks while they employed 10% more verb types in the video task. Additionally, the series of still pictures prompted participants to employ a much higher number of adjective types. These observations suggest that a series of still pictures are an effective alternative for video for eliciting narratives. This study provides support for the use of still pictures as an equivalent to videos in situations where videos are less accessible in language classrooms (due to lack of technological access).

The study investigates the use of teaching accommodations towards pupils with dyslexia. The aim of the study is to verify whether there are accommodations in teaching, testing and assessment practice that ease foreing language learning for dyslexics. Secondly, whether foreign language teachers use these accommodations in their classroom. Partipiants of the study were asked to fill in an online questionnaire.

Effective foreign language teaching to very young children have been described in literature by means of a wide range of characteristics that refer both to teachers’ professional competences as to their personal abilities. The aim of this study is to focus on the role and competences of the foreign language teacher in preschools. Starting from the analysis of first and second language acquisition, the focus will then turn to foreign language learning and teaching. Children and their natural attitude to communicate and acquire languages will be assessed and neurological findings reported. Then the role of foreign language teachers and the factors they should consider in order to teach in an efficient way will be discussed. It is a common thought that teaching a foreign language to young children might be easy and enjoyable because children acquire it spontaneously and for fun. What will be investigated is parents’ expectations and if there are some preconceptions that could influence their enthusiasm in wanting their children to join English Classes. The collected data from a formulated questionnaire completed by parents, has given the opportunity to understand that the role of the foreign language teacher is not completely clear and even undervalued when regarding certain aspects. What needs to be stressed is that teachers, parents and institutions should be aware of what foreign language teaching in kindergarten consists of. Teaching a foreign language in kindergarten is a specific professional discipline that requires not only proficiency in the target language, but also specific training as far as language acquisition and foreign language learning theories, pedagogy assumptions and classroom management techniques are concerned.

Pозглянуто теоретичні питання щодо використання інформаційних технологій у викладанні іноземної мови, визначено основні інформаційні ресурси та засоби, з’ясовано їхню важливість та актуальність.

La presente ricerca si colloca nel campo della didattica dell’arabo come lingua straniera (TAFL) ed intende passare in rassegna le tappe fondamentali di tale materia dall’inizio degli anni Sessanta ai giorni nostri nel mondo arabo e nello specifico in tre paesi: Tunisia, Egitto, Arabia Saudita. Nella ricerca presta particolare attenzione alla produzione TAFL in materia di sistemi di qualificazione linguistica quali scale di livello, esami di piazzamento, test in generale.

The Swedish curriculum for the subject English in upper secondary school clearly states the English should be used“as far as possible” in the classroom. However, the possible amount of first language usage is never mentioned. Thisfact piqued our interest for investigating how much, if any, first language use is beneficial for learning a newlanguage. For this reason, we decided to pose our research questions as follows: What are the different views on theusage of the L1 in an L2 and foreign-language classroom according to the teachers and learners? What has been saidabout only target language usage from a historical and a contemporary perspective? Does the use of the L1 in asecond-language/foreign-language classroom have a positive or negative effect on the learners’ language learning?To answer these questions, we have read and analysed sixteen empirical studies. Firstly, the research shows that bothlearners and teachers prefer to use the second language/target language as much as possible. However, they alsorecognise the benefits that the first language can have. The second question we have answered using both empiricalstudies as well as theorists from second language acquisition research and sociocultural theory. Our literaturedescribes a shift in language learning and teaching, from the bilingual grammar-translation method towards a moremonolingual classroom where the first language has no place. However, the empirical studies signal a new shift insecond-language/foreign-language education, reverting back to a more bilingual approach. Finally, all studies agreethat the first language has a complementary role in the language classroom, and if used properly, it can have apositive effect on language acquisition. Through our results we argue that the first language can increase the learners’motivation, move the tasks along and create a non-threatening environment where learners can feel safe to use thetarget language. Although the first language can benefit second language learning, learners and teachers must beaware of the danger of extensive usage, as it should remain a supplement to the target language.

L’amélioration de qualité de la formation universitaire dans tous les domaines et dans le domaine de la didactique des langues étrangères en particulier est une des directions prioritaires du développement des systèmes éducatifs nationaux. Les chercheurs autour du monde supposent que l’éducation moderne doit être basée sur l’approche par compétences, qui s’est formée sur la base des approches précédentes. En même temps la pratique d’enseignement moderne ne tient presque aucun compte de l’expérience unique des éducateurs de XXème siècle qui tachaient de trouver des solutions pour les même problèmes de l’éducation qui nous font face aujourd’hui, surtout en didactique des langues étrangères. Cette expérience demande un nouveau traitement dans le contexte de l’approche par compétences et celui de la formation linguistique. Parmi les éducateurs dont les conceptions pédagogiques sont proches des conceptions modernes des objectifs de l’éducation on peut nommer C. Freinet et V. A. Sukhomlinski. Dans le contexte de l’approche par compétence c’est possible d’actualiser l’expérience de ces didacticiens, qui ont créé les conceptions pédagogiques stimulant le développement des compétences, quoique ces éducateurs n’utilisassent pas le terme «compétence». L’actualité de cette problématique pour le système éducatif de Russie a conditionné notre inteprétation d’objectif de cette recherche qui consistait en définition de l’influence des conceptions pédagogiques de V. A. Sukhomlinski et C. Freinet sur le développement de la formation universitaire orientée par l’approche par compétences en prenant comme exemple la formation des compétences culturelles dans le processus de l’éducation à l’université ou à la faculté des langues étrangères en Russie. Dans le cadre de cette étude nous avons appliqué la méthodologie de l’expérience pédagogique pour argumenter l’efficacité de la méthode basée sur les conceptions pédagogiques de C. Freinet et V. A. Sukhomlinski en formation des compétences culturelles au niveau universitaire. Cette étude s’appuie sur un ensemble de théories et de recherches en sciences de l’éducation et en pédagogie. Les résultats reçus peuvent être appliqués dans la rédaction de programmes et de plans de la formation universitaire en Russie
Enhancement of the quality of the university education in all majors and especially in language education is a priority direction of the development of national education systems. The researchers around the globe believe that the competence-based approach is a basis for education in today’s world. This approach has formed on the basis of the other approaches of the past. Meanwhile the modern educational practice practically ignores the unique experience of the XXth century educators who aspired to resolve the same educational issues that we face nowadays, especially in the sphere of language teaching. This experience demands to be treated in the context of the competence-based approach and the theory of foreign language teaching. Among the educators whose pedagogical conceptions closely resemble the modern conceptions of educational objectives we can point out C. Freinet and V. A. Sukhomlinski. It is possible to actualize the experience of these educators in the context of the competency-based approach, as they developed pedagogical conceptions stimulating the formation of the competences, though none of them ever used the term «competence». The topicality of this issue for the Russian educational system has conditioned our view of the research aim that consisted in determination of the influence of the pedagogical conceptions of C. Freinet et V. A. Sukhomlinski on the development of the competence-oriented university education providing an example of the formation of cultural competences in the educational process realised in a Russian foreign languages university or department. In this regard we treat the pedagogical conceptions of C. In the framework of our research project we used the methodology of pedagogical experiment to prove the efficiency of the method based on the pedagogical conceptions of C. Freinet and V. A. Sukhomlinski for the formation of cultural competencies at the university level. Our study is based on the number of theories and studies in educational sciences and pedagogics. The results obtained could be applied in study programme and plan design in Russian system of university education

La traducció, un mitjà bàsic de comunicació, ha estat desfavorida i fins i tot ignorada en l’ensenyament de les llengües estrangeres. Aquesta recerca explora fins a quin punt les persones que participen a l’ensenyament de llengües estrangeres a Turquia utilitzen la traducció a classe, què pensen de la traducció, i si les activitats de traducció milloren les habilitats lingüístiques dels estudiants. S’utilitza un qüestionari per identificar les creences inicials sobre la traducció que tenen 30 estudiants i 32 professors en formació, i una enquesta virtual per determinar les creences inicials de 224 professors turcs. Els resultats del qüestionari indiquen que els estudiants i els professors en formació acceptarien relativament bé l’ús de la traducció, mentre que els professors tendeixen a evitar-la a classe. Un grup experimental de 16 estudiants participa en activitats de traducció durant 8 setmanes, mentre que un grup de control de 14 estudiants realitza activitats només en anglès. Al final d’aquest període es torna a administrar el qüestionari. Els resultats indiquen que no ha hagut canvis significatius en les creences dels estudiants. A més de les creences, l’èxit dels estudiants també es considera indicador important de l’impacte de les activitats amb traducció. Es comparen les notes pre-prova i post-prova dels estudiants per descobrir si hi ha hagut alguna millora en les habilitats d’escriptura i orals en anglès. La comparació indica una millora significativa en les notes d’escriptura dels estudiants, mentre que les activitats de traducció semblen no haver millorat significativament les notes de parla. Tenint en compte aquests resultats, es pot concloure que les activitats de traducció no s’han d’evitar quan s’ensenya o s’aprèn un idioma estranger en aquestes condicions, ja que és probable que els estudiants es beneficiïn d’ella, sobretot respecte a les seves habilitats d’escriptura.
La traducción, un medio básico de comunicación, ha sido desfavorecida e incluso ignorada en la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras. Esta investigación explora hasta qué punto las personas que participan en la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras en Turquía utilizan la traducción en clase, qué piensan acerca de la traducción y si las actividades de traducción mejoran las habilidades lingüísticas de los estudiantes. Se utiliza un cuestionario para identificar las creencias iniciales de 30 estudiantes y 32 profesores en formación en una escala Likert de cinco puntos, mientras que una encuesta en línea determina las creencias iniciales de 224 profesores turcos. Los resultados de esta administración inicial del cuestionario indican que los estudiantes y los profesores en formación están relativamente bien dispuestos al uso de la traducción, mientras que los profesores tienden a evitarla en clase. A continuación, un grupo experimental de 16 estudiantes participó en actividades de traducción durante ocho semanas, mientras que un grupo control de 14 estudiantes realizó actividades sólo en inglés. Al final de este período se volvió a administrar el inventario de creencias. Los resultados indican que no ha habido cambios significativos en las creencias de los estudiantes. Además de las creencias, el éxito de los estudiantes también fue considerado como indicador importante del impacto de las actividades con traducción. Las notas pre-prueba y post-prueba de los estudiantes fueron analizadas para averiguar si había alguna mejora en las destrezas escritas y orales en inglés. La comparación indica una mejora significativa en las notas de destreza escrita de los estudiantes, mientras que las actividades de traducción parecen no haber mejorado significativamente las notas de destrezas orales. Teniendo en cuenta estos resultados, se puede concluir que la traducción no debe evitarse cuando se enseña o se aprende un idioma extranjero en estas condiciones, ya que es probable que los estudiantes se beneficien de ella con respecto a sus destrezas de escritura.
Translation, a basic means of communication, has been disfavored and even ignored in the teaching of foreign languages. This research explores the extent to which people involved in foreign-language teaching in Turkey use translation in class, what they think about translation, and whether translation activities improve students’ language skills. A 33-item beliefs inventory was used to identify the initial beliefs of 30 learners and 32 student-teachers on a five-point Likert scale, while an online survey was used determine the initial beliefs of 224 teachers. The results obtained from this initial administration of the belief inventory indicate that learners and student-teachers are relatively well disposed to the use of translation, whereas teachers tend to avoid it in their teaching. An experiment group of 16 learners was involved in translation activities for eight weeks, while a control group of 14 learners did English-only activities. At the end of this period the beliefs inventory questionnaire was administered again. The results indicated no significant change in the beliefs of the learners. In addition to their beliefs, the success of learners was also considered as an important indicator. Thus, the pre-test and post-test scores of the learners were analyzed to find out whether there was any change in their success at writing and speaking in English. The comparison shows that there is a significant improvement in the writing performances of the learners, whereas the translation activities seem to have not improved their speaking performance significantly. Given these results, it can be concluded that translation need not be avoided while teaching or learning a foreign language under these conditions, as learners are likely to benefit from it with respect to their writing skills.

La traducció ha estat considerada com una eina comunicativa d'ensenyament i aprenentatge de llengües estrangeres des de finals dels anys seixanta, encara que es necessita més investigació empírica per provar la seva efectivitat. Aquesta investigació, que defineix la “comunicativitat” com participació activa a classe, analitza com els índexs de participació dels estudiants (quantificats com a interacció iniciada pel professor o iniciada per l'estudiant) canvien a classe quan es fan servir les activitats de traducció en comparació amb les classes només en anglès. L'experiment es va dur a terme amb 61 estudiants d'una assignatura de gramàtica anglesa que estaven cursant el segon any del Grau en anglès a la Universitat Rovira i Virgili. Els estudiants van ser assignats a un dels dos grups per a les sessions de pràctica, vuit de les quals van ser gravades en vídeo. La metodologia consistia a alternar les classes amb les activitats de traducció i només en anglès en els dos grups de pràctica, amb l'objectiu que tots els estudiants se sotmetessin al mateix tractament. Els tipus d'exercicis utilitzats en la classe van ser la gramàtica comparativa i la interpretació d'enllaç. A més, es van distribuir qüestionaris previs i posteriors a l'experiment per esbrinar quines creences tenien els estudiants sobre la traducció en l'aprenentatge de les llengües estrangeres, que després es van complementar amb entrevistes dels participants clau. Els resultats mostren que en termes d'interacció iniciada pel professor, no va haver diferència entre les classes realitzades amb activitats de traducció i les classes en anglès. No obstant això, la interacció iniciada per l'estudiant va ser major en les classes amb traducció. A més, hi va haver més interacció iniciada pels estudiants durant les activitats de gramàtica comparada que durant les activitats d'interpretació d'enllaç. Les creences dels estudiants sobre la traducció en una classe de llengua estrangera van ser generalment positives al principi i no havien canviat al final de l'experiment. Els resultats mostren que la traducció pot ser tan comunicativa (o en alguns casos fins i tot més comunicativa) que les classes només en anglès, si quantifiquem la "comunicativitat" en termes de la quantitat de participació a classe.
La traducción ha sido considerada como una herramienta comunicativa de enseñanza y aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras desde finales de los años sesenta, aunque se necesita más investigación empírica para probar su efectividad. Esta investigación, que define la “comunicatividad” como participación activa en clase, analiza cómo los índices de participación de los estudiantes (cuantificados como interacción iniciada por el profesor o iniciada por el estudiante) cambian en clase cuando se usan las actividades de traducción en comparación con las clases solamente en inglés. El experimento se llevó a cabo con 61 estudiantes de una asignatura de gramática inglesa en el segundo año del Grado en Inglés en la Universitat Rovira i Virgili. Los estudiantes fueron asignados a uno de los dos grupos para las sesiones de práctica, ocho de las cuales fueron grabadas en vídeo. La metodología consistía en alternar las clases con las actividades de traducción y solamente en inglés en ambos grupos de práctica, con el objetivo de que todos los estudiantes se sometieran al mismo tratamiento. Los ejercicios utilizados en la clase fueron la gramática comparativa y la interpretación de enlace. Además, se distribuyeron cuestionarios previos y posteriores al experimento para averiguar qué creencias tenían los estudiantes acerca de la traducción en el aprendizaje de las lenguas extranjeras, que después se complementaron con entrevistas de los participantes clave. Los resultados muestran que en términos de interacción iniciada por el profesor, no hubo diferencia entre las clases realizadas con actividades de traducción y las clases en inglés. Sin embargo, la interacción iniciada por el estudiante fue mayor en las clases con traducción. Además, hubo más interacción iniciada por los estudiantes durante las actividades de gramática comparada que durante las actividades de interpretación de enlace. Las creencias de los estudiantes acerca de la traducción en una clase de lengua extranjera fueron generalmente positivas al principio y no habían cambiado al final del experimento. Los resultados muestran que la traducción puede ser tan comunicativa (o en algunos casos incluso más comunicativa) que las clases solamente en inglés, si cuantificamos la “comunicatividad” en términos de la cantidad de participación en clase.
Translation has been regarded as a communicative foreign-language teaching and learning tool since the late 1960s, although more empirical research is needed to test its effectiveness. Defining “communicativeness” as active participation in class, this research looks at how student participation rates (quantified as teacher-initiated or student-initiated interaction) change when translation activities are used in class, as compared to classes in English only. The experiment was carried out with 61 officially enrolled second-year students of English at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili who were taking a grammar course. The students were placed into two groups for their practice sessions, eight of which were video-recorded. The methodology was to alternate classes with translation activities and in English-only in both practice groups, so that all the students would undergo the same treatment. The types of exercises used in class were comparative grammar and liaison interpreting. Also, pre- and post-experiment questionnaires were distributed to find out what beliefs the students held about translation in foreign-language learning, which were then complemented by interviews from key participants. The findings show that in terms of teacher-initiated interaction, there was no difference between classes carried out with translation activities as compared to classes in English only. However, student-initiated interaction was higher in the classes with translation. Also, there was more student-initiated interaction during the activities involving comparative grammar than during the activities involving liaison interpreting. Students’ beliefs about translation in a foreign-language class were generally positive at the beginning and had not changed by the end of the experiment. The findings show that translation can be as communicative (or in certain cases even more communicative) than classes in English only, if we quantify “communicativeness” in terms of the amount of participation in class.

Nowadays, when students have access to any information via the Internet, ‘live’ communication in the classroom, the opportunity to observe the other people’s behavior and emotions, to perform in public are those invaluable resources that attract students with their content and emotional coloring. We have decided to highlight the issue of team teaching as we have our own teaching experience together with the Peace Corps volunteer who came to Sumy State University to work on the project “Teaching English as a Foreign Language”. The experiment lasted for two years. In the course of our collaboration we were able to observe the progress in students’ knowledge, increase in their linguistic competence, motivation and interest. Many students started attending weekly meetings of the English Club in order to improve their spoken English, broaden their worldview through intercultural communication and enrich vocabulary. Now, when after a two-year stay at Foreign Languages Department our volunteer has gone home, we want not to forget the acquired experience, to save and share the achievements obtained over that period of time.

This study seeks to examine and compare motivational orientations of French learners across different dimensions: cultural background (USA vs. Russia), educational modality and age (college students vs. private courses learners), gender, and time of studying foreign language. 613 American and Russian learners of French completed the questionnaire addressing 10 motivational factors to study French language. Despite differences in nationality, age, educational background and learning experience, all groups of participants produced nearly identical motivational rankings. The rankings are topped by the Travelling orientation, which seems to be universally appealing, followed by the orientations within the Idealistic motivational cluster (Aesthetic Factors, Culture, Knowledge, and Ideal Self). The Pragmatic motivational cluster (Instrumental orientation, which is sometimes coupled to Emigration and Friendship dimensions) is by far less important. This disposition is also confirmed by the qualitative data. With regard to specific orientations it has been found that US learners score consistently higher in Sociability motivation, whereas Russians score higher in the Peers’ Encouragement and Aesthetic categories. In regard to gender differences, this study shows that male students appear to be more personable, e.g. among American learners males consistently outscore females in the Friendship category. Referring to age differences, it was found that the overall level of motivation tends to decline with age.

The purpose of this project is to help promote elementary English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) students' reading comprehension. The project investigates the co-teaching model and its implementation in the Taiwanese English class. Curriculum and lesson plans are included.

This thesis mainly intends to study and reach some conclusions related to major challenges concerning vocabulary teaching or learning, how vocabulary teaching can be improved, findings obtained from the studies in order to reach that purpose and to what extend the suggested alternative vocabulary techniques are effective. It is also aimed to outline the basic insights of the mind, storage, and retrieval from the literature involving linguistics and language teaching. Based on above mentioned background knowledge, it is also intended to derive some significant conclusions to improve the effectiveness and thus the quality of vocabulary teaching in language instruction. In accordance with the principles of the human memory, how we can alter current vocabulary instruction techniques and activities and what scholars offer language teachers and learners are dealt with in detail. So as to validate and prove the efficiency of suggested techniques and activities, a case study is carried out and findings are discussed at large. Additionally, interviews about vocabulary teaching have been carried out with the involved students and instructors and the obtained data has been evaluated. In the final part of the research, some implications and suggestion related to vocabulary teaching are provided along with the underlying rationale behind them aiming to increase the quality of teaching of lexical items and as a result to increase overall quality of language instruction.

This study was an exploration of what English language content was represented in a classroom in which English was taught as a foreign language (EFL). The purpose of this study was to explore the way EFL teachers represent English language content/constructs in a classroom setting. The motivation behind this exploration is to contribute to the understandings of EFL teachers' practices in classroom settings. Doyle's task framework was employed, specifically with the intention to map what content representations emerged out of the teachers' classroom practices. All in all, the teachers' classroom content representations were found to be entrenched with the idea of high-stakes test preparation in Turkey.

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro de Comunicação e Expressão
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O estudo investiga com base no modelo interativo da leitura, a possibilidade de ensinar alunos brasileiros, adolescentes, principiantes no estudo de uma língua estrangeira a ler com compreensão textos simples, mas autênticos, em inglês, mesmo sem ter um bom conhecimento desta língua. Os sujeitos envolvidos foram 151 alunos da sétima série de cinco escolas municipais de Florianópolis. Os materiais de leitura preparados para o projeto foram aplicados por 5 professores (incluindo a pesquisadora). Os alunos foram pré-testados, e durante o ano letivo, submetidos a três testes de unidade, avaliados subjetivamente pelos professores por sua participação em classe e por fim pós-testados. Os resultados obtidos permitem concluir que é possível ensinar a adolescentes sem conhecimento da língua inglesa, a ler com compreensão textos complemetares em inglês, uma vez que os alunos melhoram significamente do pré para o pós-teste e obtiveram aproveitamento superior a 70 % nos testes de unidade. Houve também uma correlação significativa entre os resultados entre si, bem como dos testes e da avaliação subjetiva feita pelos professores. Finalmente, os materiais preparados para o estudo mostraram-se adequados, pois os objetivos estabelecidos para a pesquisa foram satisfatoriamente atingidos.

There is an increasing number of International Baccalaureate programs in the United States that require instruction in an additional language to prepare culturally responsive global citizens, but there is little research on how the teaching of culture is addressed in elementary additional language programs. This study was guided by Vygotsky's and Dewey's social constructivism and investigated how the teaching of culture is integrated in additional foreign language classrooms in the State of Georgia's International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programs (IB PYP). It also investigated how personal, professional, or organizational factors such as values, beliefs, teacher training, or time constraints impact the integration of culture and language. This qualitative multiple-case comparative study examined the experiences of 3 teachers in Georgia who taught in K-5 additional language classrooms, using curriculum maps, student work samples, lesson plans, and semi-structured interviews as the data sources. Data were analyzed using Atlas.ti software and coded using constant comparative methods; the inductive qualitative content analysis included open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. The study findings showed that a variety of factors impacted program goals including the attitudes of school community, teacher isolation, philosophy, Georgia Standards, and practices of the IB PYP. Findings are applicable to additional language teachers for further discussion on the current state of elementary language programs in Georgia's IB PYP and for informing choices on program design. This study contributes to social change by expanding the body of professional literature in the field of foreign language education and on the issues that affect teachers in additional language classrooms in the IB PYP.

Second languages which are also called foreign languages are learnt beside native spoken languages and they are learnt in a systematic way (Hinkel, 2005). Spanish and English are widely spoken around the globe and they have improved a lot in Afghanistan, especially SPanish after Spanish military existence in teh country as part of ISAF after 2001 to Afghanistan and after the establishment of some private schools where Spanish is a part of curriculum. This school was built due to the interest of Spanish embassy. As the embassy got informed that there is the Spanish department, they immidiately got interested and wanted to establish a school in Afghanistan too where Spanish will be taught as one subject in this only one school in Kabul city. Since, there are mostly non-native speaking teachers with different teaching approaches in Kabul University; the researcher therefore, conducted this study to compares English and Spanish language teachers in the university and a private school. Moreover, students’ perceptions as regards learning a second language are explored as well as their experience and motives. Data for this research is collected with the help of ready-made questionnaire which was distributed to 20 English teachers, seven Spanish teachers at the university, five teachers of Kabul international school, 50 students of Spanish department and 50 students of Kabul international school. In addition to this, five classes were observed in university and five in private school, which helped the comparison of teachers’ perceptions and factual teaching performance in the class. It was found that there are both similarities and differences among teachers of English and Spanish teachers when teaching these foreign languages. In schools these languages are taught superficially and teachers lack professional knowledge while in the university vice versa. This research also found that nearly all the staff and students in Spanish department are grown up in urban areas and none of the students while only three out of 12 Spanish teachers have visited Spain. Half of the students in school were concerned about the impact of Spanish on Afghan society while students in the university and Spanish teachers had the counter idea. Moreover, it was found that in university students were given articles, assignments and topics from magazines and newspapers apart from daily lessons for the intention that students strengthen their Spanish language while this practice was hardly visible in school classrooms. In school Spanish language was taught on lecture based where students rarely found any chance for practice of the language and most of the time was allocated for the translation of Spanish.
TEMP Afganistan