bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Pragmatics of Making Requests in the L2 Workplace: A Case Study of Language Socialization
Authors: Li Duanduan
Published: June 2010

The workplace is one of many sociocultural contexts where novices within a culture, like immigrant women, become socialized into new discourse systems and cultures. As second language (L2) speakers, the process of language socialization in the workplace involves double socialization: as a novice in a new work environment and as novice operating within a new language and culture. Focusing on L2 requesting behaviour, this ethnographic case study deals with the important issue of the pragmatics of higher-stakes social communications. The contextualized examples provided here illustrate how, through exposure and participation in social interactions and with the assistance of experts or more competent peers, an immigrant woman came to internalize target language and cultural norms and develop communicative competence in ESL in the workplace. More specifically, she learned to make requests more directly than she had been accustomed by adopting certain sociolinguistic strategies and expressions. The research on which this paper is based represents a new direction in TESOL workplace-oriented research, combining interlanguage pragmatics, ethnography, and language socialization.
Mondialisation et exploitation des ressources linguistiques: les défis des communautés francophones de l'Ontario
Authors: Labrie Normand , Bélanger Nathalie , Lozon Roger , Roy Sylvie
Published: June 2010

Résumé: Notre objectif dans cet article est d'expliquer quels sont les défis que rencontrent deux communautés francophones en Ontario, l'une de la Péninsule de Niagara, l'autre de la région Simcoe, face aux changements engendrés par ce qu'il est convenu d'appeler la mondialisation, et comment les membres de ces deux communautés utilisent leurs ressources linguistiques pour s'intégrer socialement et professionnellement dans une économie en voie de transformation. Nous avons effectué quelques 40 entrevues semi-dirigées par région auprès d'un éventail de population pouvant démontrer des pratiques sociales et langagières variées en matière de bilinguisme et d'alphabétisation, de formation et d'accès à l'emploi. Cette comparaison de deux régions nous montre que la mondialisation de l'économie favorise le développement des services à la clientèle, ce qui suppose une importance accrue pour la capacité de communiquer, principalement à l'oral, bien que l'écrit soit en progression. Si les employeurs de ces deux régions peuvent compter sur une population bilingue pour combler leurs besoins actuels, selon eux la réserve de main-d'æuvre disponible se trouverait en voie de tarissement. Chez les francophones, la réserve de main-d'æuvre qui se trouve sans emploi, fait face à divers défis, tels que se procurer l'équivalent d'un diplôme d'études secondaires, faire preuve de mobilité, soit en se relocalisant pour un emploi, soit en effectuant un trajet quotidien sur de grandes distances, ce qui suppose renoncer jusqu'à un certain point au réseau de solidarité communautaire, et ce qui peut avoir une influence sur la reproduction sociale de la communauté.
Learning Language for Work and Life: The Linguistic Socialization of Immigrant Canadians Seeking Careers in Healthcare
Authors: Duff Patricia , Wong Ping , Early Margaret
Published: June 2010

This article discusses research on ESL for the workplace, identifying gaps in the existing literature and promising directions for new explorations. A qualitative study was conducted in one type of program for immigrant women and men in Western Canada seeking to become long-term resident care aides or home support workers. The study examined the linguistic and social processes at work in the education and integration of immigrant ESL speakers into the workforce and the broader community; the issues participants in such programs face; and the insights that can be gleaned for understanding language socialization in this context. Of particular interest was the contrast observed in one such program between the focus on medical and general English language proficiency, as well as nursing skills, and the actual communication requirements within institutions with large numbers of staff and patients who do not speak English, and who, in the case of the elderly, may also face communication difficulties associated with ageing, illness, and disability. Implications for future research and curriculum development are discussed.
Apprendre en sciences, c'est apprendre à «parler sciences»: des élèves de l'immersion nous parlent des réactions chimiques
Authors: Laplante Bernard
Published: June 2010

Cet article illustre comment des élèves de deux classes de sixième année en immersion française en sont venus à parler des réactions chimiques. Ces élèves ont travaillé à partir d'une unité de sciences qui adopte une approche langagière de nature interactionnelle et où différentes «fonctions langagières académiques» font l'objet d'un enseignement explicite à partir d'une démarche ternaire. Entre autres, les élèves ont étudié comment observer une réaction chimique, écrire la procédure d'une expérience et formuler une conclusion. Les résultats de l'étude illustrent comment à la suite de l'enseignement de ces fonctions langagières, les élèves en sont arrivés à «parler sciences» de mieux en mieux alors qu'ils s'approprient certains éléments du discours scientifique. Adopter un tel modèle permet de passer d'un mode d'enseignement réactif où la dimension langagière reste essentiellement implicite à un mode proactif où les fonctions langagières font l'objet d'un enseignement explicite. Les résultats de cette étude ont donc de nombreuses implications qui touchent tant à la didactique des sciences en immersion qu'à la formation à l'enseignement des matière en langue seconde.
Teacher Management of Writing Workshops: Two Case Studies
Authors: Hyland Fiona
Published: June 2010

Individual discussions or conferences offered to students in writing workshops are seen as a very valuable source of feedback. However, for such writing conferences to be effective, writing workshops need to be carefully planned and managed. This paper examines the approaches of two teachers to the management of writing workshops for ESL/EFL students on an English proficiency course. The data come from a longitudinal study into the effects of feedback on ESL/EFL students and include questionnaire responses, interviews and classroom observations. The paper discusses the different procedures that the two teachers adopt in the management of their writing workshops and the effects that these differences have on the teacher/students and student/student interactions which take place in the workshops. It is suggested that these differences can be related to the teachers' beliefs about the role of feedback and the process of writing for ESL students. A number of pedagogical implications related to the management of writing workshops are also suggested.
Using the First Language in the Classroom
Authors: Cook Vivian
Published: June 2010

This paper argues for the re-examination of the time-honoured view that the first language should be avoided in the classroom by teachers and students. The justifications for this rest on a doubtful analogy with first language acquisition, on a questionable compartmentalization of the two languages in the mind, and on the aim of maximizing students' exposure to the second language, laudable but not incompatible with use of the first language. The L1 has already been used in alternating language methods and in methods that actively create links between L1 and L2, such as the New Concurrent Method, Community Language Learning, and Dodson's Bilingual Method. Treating the L1 as a classroom resource opens up several ways to use it, such as for teachers to convey meaning, explain grammar, and organize the class, and for students to use as part of their collaborative learning and individual strategy use. The first language can be a useful element in creating authentic L2 users rather than something to be shunned at all costs.
Intrinsic, Extrinsic, and Integrative Orientations of French Canadian Learners of English
Authors: Noels Kimberly , Clément Richard , Pelletier Luc
Published: June 2010

The present study had two purposes: (a) to replicate previous research on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for language learning in French Canadian students of English, and (b) to consider the relations between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and the integrative orientation. Québécois university students (N = 59) in a summer English immersion course completed a questionnaire addressing their reasons for language learning, perceptions of autonomy and competence, effort expended in language learning, determination to pursue English studies, and course achievement. The results of correlational analyses supported the predicted relations between theoretical antecedents and consequences of intrinsic and extrinsic orientations. The integrative orientation correlated most strongly with the intrinsic orientation. The results are discussed in terms of the implications of these orientations for language learning outcomes.
Mixing Beginners and Native Speakers in Minority Language Immersion: Who is Immersing Whom?
Authors: Hickey Tina
Published: June 2010

The mixing of L1 speakers with L2 learners occurs regularly in immersion situations where a minority language is the target language. This study looks at early immersion in Irish among children from diverse language backgrounds. It examines the children's frequency of target language use and the effect of the group's linguistic mix on that use. A sample of 60 children from different language backgrounds was drawn from pre-school classes with different compositions of children from Irish-only, Irish-English, and English-only homes. The results showed relatively low levels of target language use even by the native speakers. The linguistic composition of the group significantly affected the frequency of target language use by the L1 children and the children from bilingual homes but had less effect on the use by English speakers. The importance of addressing the needs of native speakers as well as those of beginners in such immersion situations is explored, and the implications for teacher training and teaching strategies are considered.
Un gars, une fille : plaidoyer pour la culture avec un ‘petit c’ dans un cours de français langue étrangère
Authors: Black Catherine
Published: June 2010

Television programming has always held some appeal for language teachers. Some people use television shows to teach target culture, others prefer its use for linguistic purposes. This article looks at the Québécois TV show Un gars, une fille used in a university French course in order to 'teach the socio-cultural reality that underlies all linguistic utterances in a university-level French course' (De Carlo and Aquistapace, 1997, p. 22). In studying episodes of the show, we attempted to identify what makes them more authentic than the videos and CD ROMs that accompany most language textbooks for French.
Language, Literacy, Content, and (Pop) Culture: Challenges for ESL Students in Mainstream Courses
Authors: Duff Patricia
Published: June 2010

This paper examines issues confronting ESL students in mainstream content areas at the secondary school level. Relevant research on the integration of language, content, literacy, and culture in courses is reviewed, followed by a discussion of findings from an ethnographic study conducted at a Canadian school with a high concentration of Asian-background ESL students. The focus is the discourse contexts for mainstreamed ESL students in two Grade 10 social studies classes. Requirements for ESL students' successful participation in such courses included, but went beyond, existing prescriptions and practices for students' integration and academic success. Recorded observations over a two-year period revealed that to succeed in class, students needed to participate in a variety of types of classroom discussion and reading and writing activities; they also needed a current knowledge of popular North American culture, mass media, and newsworthy events; an ability to express a range of critical perspectives on social issues and to enter quick-paced interactions; and a great deal of confidence. Examples of these features of social studies discourse, implications for ESL students and content teachers, and some instructional remedies are presented and discussed.
Language and Content in Social Practice: A Case Study
Authors: Early Margaret
Published: June 2010

This paper argues that schools need to implement substantial, systemic changes in pedagogy, school organization, and professional development in order to adequately address the changing demographic realities of their communities and the educational imperatives of the 'new economy.' The paper reports on one district's response to this challenge as it sought to implement two action research projects for teachers and administrators to achieve school-wide emphasis on integrated language and content instruction. The analysis suggests that the approach taken (Mohan's Knowledge Framework in combination with principles of social constructivist learning) was successful in drawing teachers' attention to the role of language as a medium of learning, and identifies common elements, together with differences, in the ways in which two pairs of teachers worked to design learning experiences for their students. The paper concludes that the approach taken in this school district provides a good starting place for teachers' and students' analysis of classroom practices and encourages other districts to benefit from its example and understandings.
Integrating Language and Content Teaching through Collaborative Tasks
Authors: Swain Merrill
Published: June 2010

In French immersion programs, it is important to integrate the teaching of language and content. One way in which this can be accomplished is through the use of tasks which, using content-relevant material, encourage students to focus on language form. In this paper, tasks which engage students in collaborative writing and therefore in talking about content and the language needed to express that content, are presented. I present examples of collaborative dialogues between students to show how such tasks provide opportunities for second language learning because, among other things, students may externalize their (sometimes partial) knowledge, allowing them to reflect on it, revise it, and apply it.
Are Brief Contact Experiences and Classroom Language Learning Complementary?
Authors: MacFarlane Alina
Published: June 2010

This paper presents the perspectives of a Grade 6 French immersion class from Ontario on a brief exchange experience with francophone peers from Quebec, and describes how this experience complemented their classroom language studies. An earlier study of immersion graduates indicated that students who had had contact with native speakers during their immersion studies attained higher French proficiency and integrated French more into their daily lives after graduation than those who had not. The results of that research led to the hypothesis that certain classroom language learning limitations may be overcome by providing young learners with opportunities for contact with native speakers outside the classroom. This paper reports results of a case study of an exchange between two Grade 6 classes. The study examined immersion students' perception of the operation of both social and cognitive/linguistic processes in the classroom and in the exchange context, the areas in which the classroom context and the exchange context were complementary, and the possible pedagogical implications.
Grade 3 Immersion Students' Performance in Literacy and Mathematics: Province-wide Results from Ontario (1998-99)
Authors: Turnbull Miles , Lapkin Sharon , Hart Doug
Published: June 2010

In 1996, the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) 1 introduced a provincial testing program for all students at Grades 3 and 6 in Ontario. This created a unique opportunity to investigate French immersion students' performance on tests of English reading and writing and mathematics some 25 years after many of the large-scale evaluations of French immersion programs were first conducted. In this study, we compare immersion and non-immersion students' results on the Grade 3 tests in 1998-99. We also explore the results by immersion program type, that is according to (a) the grade at which English literacy instruction is introduced, and (b) the proportion of instructional time in English. The results from this study corroborate those of large-scale evaluation studies of French immersion programs conducted some 25 years ago.
Le point sur les transferts dans l'écriture en langue seconde
Authors: Lefrançois Pascale
Published: June 2010

À travers une recension des recherches récentes, l'article fait le point sur la question des transferts en écriture de la langue maternelle à la langue seconde. Les connaissances orthographiques et lexicales, le traite-ment grammatical et syntaxique, les stratégies générales et les schémas culturels de la L1 influencent l'écriture en L2, mais la conscience du niveau de langue approprié est plus difficilement transférable. La compétence linguisti-que en L2 affecte la qualité du produit, non celle du processus, mais un seuil minimal de cette compétence est nécessaire au transfert des stratégies de haut niveau. Les effets positifs du transfert se manifestent davantage dans le processus que dans le produit, où ils dépendent de la proximité relative des langues. Les limites des recherches actuelles sont identifiées et des pistes de recherches futures sont suggérées.
Identifying and Bridging Cross-Cultural Prototypes: Exploring the Role of Collaborative Dialogue in Second Language Lexical Meaning Acquisition
Authors: Qi Donald
Published: June 2010

Traditional and current lexical pedagogy has not effectively addressed the issue of acquisition of the cultural component of lexical meaning in a cross-cultural context. This paper investigates a pedagogical approach to identifying and bridging the gap between cultural prototypes in second language lexical meaning acquisition. Within the framework of prototype theory and a sociocultural perspective, the author argues, and provides supporting data, that lexical meaning is culturally situated and that teaching and learning of a culturally loaded word may be achieved by teacher and learners' engaging in collaborative inquiries in which meaning is negotiated through interaction with interlocutors' existing knowledge and prior experiences. Four Chinese non-native speakers (NNS) of English and four Canadian native speakers (NS) of English were selected to form four NS-NNS pairs who produced four interactive dialogues. A follow-up test was conducted six weeks after each dialogue. It is demonstrated through analysis of the dialogues and test results that collaborative dialogue may be an effective approach for providing opportunities for active inquiry and negotiation and for promoting acquisition of culturally loaded words in a second language.
Être ou ne pas être in Immersion French
Authors: Knaus Valerie , Nadasdi Terry
Published: June 2010

Cette étude examine l'emploi des auxiliaires avoir et être dans le parler d'étudiants inscrits dans un programme d'immersion française. D'après les règles du français standard, la variante avoir ne s'emploie jamais avec certains verbes, par ex.: aller, venir, partir et cetera. Toutefois, des re-cherches portant sur le français parlé indiquent qu'il existe énormément de variation. Nous avons donc décidé d'examiner la variation dans le choix des auxiliaires dans le français parlé des étudiants en immersion française afin de savoir à quel point leur emploi des auxiliaires ressemble à celui des locuteurs natifs. Dans nos analyses, nous examinons la variation selon les facteurs linguistiques et sociaux qui la conditionnent. Nos résultats révèlent que les étudiants utilisent parfois l'auxiliaire avoir avec les » verbes êtres «, mais que cette fréquence est inférieure à ce qu'on trouve dans le parler des franco-phones.
Teacher Use of Learners' Native Language in the Foreign Language Classroom
Authors: Rolin-Ianziti Jeanne , Brownlie Siobhan
Published: June 2010

This article reports on an exploratory study into the use of students' native language (NL) by teachers in the foreign language (FL) classroom. The project was undertaken by four teachers of beginner French at the University of Queensland. The teachers' aim was to investigate the use of NL in a context which actively promotes an immersion approach to FL teaching. The audio recordings of the teachers' speech were transcribed to provide data for estimating the amount of NL, and for analyzing the various instances of NL use. The study indicates that the activity type is a significant variable affecting NL amount. It also isolates two strategic uses of NL, translating FL words into NL, and contrasting NL and FL forms, both of which involve intrasentential code switching with NL words embedded in an FL sentence. The study suggests that these strategies may facilitate acquisition during immersion in FL, but experimental research is needed to test the hypothesis that translation and contrast facilitate learning of FL vocabulary and grammar.
Comprehension-Based Learning: The Limits of ‘Do It Yourself’
Authors: Lightbown Patsy , Halter Randall , White Joanna , Horst Marlise
Published: June 2010

In previous publications, the authors reported on the English skills of students who had learned ESL in an experimental comprehension-based program. The performance of grade 4 and 5 students with two or three years of reading and listening was compared to that of students with three years of audio-lingual instruction. On most measures, the students in the comprehension-based program performed as well as or better than the comparison group (Lightbown 1992a; Lightbown & Halter, 1989). In the present paper, the authors report on a follow-up study carried out when students were in grade 8. After six years of an essentially comprehension-based program in ESL, they performed as well as comparison groups of students on measures of comprehension and some measures of oral production but not on measures of written production. This paper includes a description of some particular gaps in the written language of students in the comprehension-based program, includes a follow-up study with secondary school students who had been involved in an experimental program for learning English as a second language (ESL) in primary school, and concludes with a discussion of the need for pedagogical guidance for the development of writing skills.
Is It Fun? Language Play in a Fifth-Grade Spanish Immersion Classroom
Authors: Broner Maggie , Tarone Elaine
Published: June 2010

In this article, we use an approach to the study of inter-language that challenges prevailing models of second language acquisition (SLA) which assume that negotiation of meaning is the only causal variable in SLA. Ludic language play may also play a role in the development of inter-language (Tarone, 2000a). In this article, we examine two notions of language play as they have been presented in the applied linguistics literature: ludic language play, as defined in Cook (2000), and language play as rehearsal in private speech, as considered by Lantolf (1997), and its relationship to SLA. Through the analysis of classroom interactions among children attending a full immersion program, we show that these two types of play can be distinguished in classroom discourse by the presence or absence of five channel cues: presence/absence of laughter, shifts in voice quality and pitch versus shifts in loudness/whispering, use of language forms that are well-known versus forms that are new; presence/absence of a fictional world of reference, and presence/absence of an audience other than the self. It is also argued that the distinction between the two types of language play in learner language allows us to study their distinct roles in the process of SLA.
What Does a Novice Look Like? Describing the Grammar and Discourse of Young Learners of Japanese
Authors: Igarashi Kanae , Wudthayagorn Jirada , Donato Richard , Tucker G.
Published: June 2010

The purpose of the present study is to describe diverse aspects of the speaking proficiency of novice-low to novice-mid level FLES students and to identify the syntactic knowledge presumably underlying such behavior. Data were collected from students who had been studying Japanese continually for six and seven years on a variety of oral production tasks. The analyses revealed a number of interesting findings with respect to syntactic development such as their control of certain particles and use of non-canonical word order. Additionally, although the FLES students comprehended input and spoke in ways similar to child native speakers in terms of certain word-level features, the quantity of their output differed with FLES students producing less output less often. The pedagogical implications of these findings for early language learning educators are discussed.
The Need to Draw Second Language Learners' Attention to the Semantic Boundaries of Syntactically Relevant Verb Classes
Authors: Helms-Park Rena
Published: June 2010

This paper puts forward the view that second language (L2) learners could benefit from being made aware of the semantic components which unify verbs that display a certain syntactic behaviour, and, more significantly, the semantic components which exclude other verbs from participating in this behaviour. In other words, an awareness of the parameters of verb classes could minimize both syntactic overgeneralization and under-generalization. This viewpoint is supported by the findings of a study in which production and judgement data on the behaviour of 'change-of-state' and 'directional motion' verbs were elicited from learners at three levels of lexical proficiency. While learners with high lexical proficiency had fewer overgeneralizations than their lower-level counterparts, overgeneralization was substantial at all levels of proficiency in the directional motion class. The results suggest that it might be beneficial to combine grammar and vocabulary instruction in L2 curricula, with a special focus on semantically coherent verb classes.
A Practical and Complementary Approach to the Evaluation of ESL Composition Textbooks
Authors: Olivares-Cuhat Gabriela
Published: June 2010

This article outlines a method for evaluating the strategy training component in composition textbooks designed for ESL and other second and foreign language students. First, the reasoning behind this approach is presented along with theoretical and pedagogical considerations. The procedure -a checklist - is then described and illustrated through the analysis of three sample chapters from three ESL college-level writing textbooks. Finally, strengths and weaknesses of the method are discussed. It is stressed that the method is user-friendly and can be helpful to teachers with various levels of experience in strategy training.
The Cross-linguistic Development of Address Form Use in Telecollaborative Language Learning: Two Case Studies
Authors: Belz Julie , Kinginger Celeste
Published: June 2010

In this paper we explore the influences of the telecollaborative learning environment on the development of L2 pragmatic competence in foreign language learning from a sociocultural perspective (Lantolf, 2000). Typically, telecollaboration involves the application of global computer networks in foreign language study (e.g., Warschauer, 1996) for the purposes of linguistic development and intercultural learning. In particular, we focus on the ‘microgenesis’ or development of the T/V distinction in pronouns of address as a test case representative of broader L2 pragmatic concerns. We present two detailed case studies of this phenomenon: one for French (tu vs. vous) and one for German (du vs. Sie). The rationale for this type of analysis emerges from Vygotsky's developmental approach to cognition (1978) where it is emphasized that development can only be understood by specifying its history. We argue that, in contrast to the traditional language classroom, the telecollaborative language class provides the learner with increased opportunities for social interaction with native-speaking peers and, thus, with a wider range of discourse options (Kramsch, 1985a) for the disambiguation of the numerous sociopragmatic meanings of the pronouns of address in French and German.
New Tools in an Old Trade: Teachers Talk About Use of the Internet in the Teaching of French as a Second or Foreign Language
Authors: Murphy Elizabeth
Published: June 2010

This paper presents partial findings of a study of teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning French as a second or foreign language using the Internet. Use of an international, on-line discussion list as well as an open-ended questionnaire provided an opportunity for teachers to ‘talk’ about their experiences with the new tools of the Internet. Two main categories emerged from the coding of data. Reported in this paper is the category of challenges related to teaching of French using the Internet. Six sub-categories are described and discussed as follows: the curriculum; resources and information; roles and responsibilities; control and monitoring; training; and access and equipment. The experiences of teachers reported on in this paper suggest that effective use of the Internet in the teaching of French requires an understanding and acceptance of the way in which the tools redefine classroom control, knowledge and the practice of teaching in general.
The Role of Peer Support in ESL Students' Accomplishment of Oral Academic Tasks
Authors: Kobayashi Masaki
Published: June 2010

How do L2 students work together to accomplish their public, in-class tasks? From a sociocultural perspective (e.g., Duff, 1995; Lantolf, 2000), the present study takes a behind-the-scenes look at peer collaboration in which a group of three Japanese undergraduate students engaged to accomplish an academic presentation task during their year-long studies in a content-based ESL program at a Canadian university. Methods for data collection reflected a qualitative case study approach and included audio-recorded observations of project work, in-depth interviews, and students' journals and papers. Data showed that students' preparatory activities outside the classroom included negotiating task definition and teacher expectations, sharing experiences, collaborative dialogue (Swain, 2000) in preparing presentation materials, and rehearsing and peer-coaching. Analysis shed useful light on students' contextualization of and orientation to the task, the interdependence of spoken and written language in task preparation, and the role of the L1 as a scaffold for L2 task accomplishment.
Vocabulary Acquisition in a Second Language: Do Learners Really Acquire Most Vocabulary by Reading? Some Empirical Evidence
Authors: Laufer Batia
Published: June 2010

In the first part of the paper, I challenge some basic assumptions underlying the claim that reading is the major source of vocabulary acquisition in L2: the ‘noticing’ assumption, the ‘guessing ability’ assumption, the ‘guessing-retention link’ assumption, and the ‘cumulative gain’ assumption. In the second part, I report on three experiments in which vocabulary gains from reading were compared with gains from word-focused tasks: completing given sentences, writing original sentences, and incorporating words in a composition. Results showed that more words were acquired through tasks than through reading.
Talking in Order to Learn: Willingness to Communicate and Intensive Language Programs
Authors: MacIntyre Peter , Baker Susan , Clément Richard , Donovan Leslie
Published: June 2010

Immersion and other intensive language programs produce both linguistic and non-linguistic outcomes. A principal non-linguistic outcome would be a willingness to communicate in the second language (L2), given the opportunity. Both increasing perceived competence and lowering anxiety help to foster a willingness to communicate. These variables are related to motivation for language learning and are expected to differ between immersion and non-immersion learners. Among university-level students, this study evaluates differences between immersion and non-immersion students in willingness to communicate, communication apprehension, perceived competence, and frequency of communicating. Also examined are elements of integrative motivation. Differences between immersion and non-immersion groups are observed in the communication-related variables, but not in motivation. Correlations among these variables also differ between the groups. Results are examined in terms of Skehan's notion of talking in order to learn and a model of L2 willingness to communicate
Bicultural Perspectives and Reader Response: Four American Readers Respond to Jean Fritz'sHomesick
Authors: Leung Cynthia
Published: June 2010

The study of readers' responses to literature can help to make public the voices of bicultural children and young adults who experience life from a diversity of perspectives. This study explores the relationship between responses to literature and the complex world views of four bicultural students, three Asian American and one of Jewish and Eastern European descent. The focal literary work of the study was the cross-cultural text Homesick by Jean Fritz, a Newbery Honor book about the author's growing up in China on the eve of the Communist revolution. The participants were interviewed about their experiences with the text in terms of characterization, major events, setting, cultural and historical aspects of the narrative, and appropriateness of illustrations and photographs. Findings revealed a wide difference in responses among the girls. Knowledge of Chinese culture, stage of ethnic identity development, personality traits, and prior experiences with the genre of fictional autobiography were found to be major factors contributing to differences in responses.
"It's Like Chicken but Bigger": Effects of Communication Strategy in the ESL Classroom
Authors: Rossiter Marian
Published: June 2010

This paper reports the effects of communication strategy instruction on second language performance (communicative success, speech rate, message abandonment) and on the use of communication strategies (paraphrase). Two classes of adult immigrants, enrolled in a full-time intermediate proficiency ESL program at a post-secondary institution in Canada, participated in this study. One class received 12 hours of direct communication strategy training, and the second served as a comparison group. Speaking tasks (picture story narratives, object descriptions) were administered as pretests at Week 1, immediate post-tests at Week 5, and delayed post-tests at Week 10. Post-test results showed a direct effect in favour of the communication strategy condition on range of strategies used in the object description task, which was more effective than the narrative in eliciting communication strategies. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for the ESL classroom.
Teacher Adaptations in Core French: A Case Study of One Grade 9 Class
Authors: Arnett Katy
Published: June 2010

Since the introduction of the term 'learning disabilities' into the educational lexicon, teachers and researchers have endeavoured to determine the best ways to adapt teachers' pedagogies to address the needs of students with these challenges in the classroom. Most of the recommended strategies have been designed with the traditional classes in mind - English, Science, Math, and History. However, in recent years, there has been an increased awareness of a need for knowledge about adaptation strategies that are suitable for the goals of the second/foreign language classroom. This study reports the findings of an observation study that was designed to identify which adaptation strategies that had been recommended in the learning disabilities research literature were feasibly implemented in one Grade 9 core French class in Ontario; such insight will enable other core French and second/foreign language teachers to make their classes more inclusive.
What my Students Heard that I Didn't Know I Said: Reflections on Learner Feedback in a Spanish Composition Course
Authors: Edstrom Anne
Published: June 2010

This study analyzed the implementation of a pre-writing activity that was designed to address L2 student writers' tendency to focus on grammatical accuracy to the exclusion of content and structure. The participants, students in a university-level Spanish composition course, were given a rubric with which to evaluate three previously written compositions. These evaluations, along with a tape-recorded whole group discussion and follow-up questionnaires, constitute the database. The analysis focused on two specific aspects of the pre-writing activity: its impact on learners' views about writing and its usefulness as a pedagogical tool. Though indicating support for the activity, learners' comments also revealed a contradiction between the instructor's reportedly student-centred pedagogical beliefs and the teacher-centred nature of the activity. These findings elevate the role of learner feedback beyond evaluative and administrative purposes to constitute a key element in teacher development and professionalization.
Theoretical and Research Foundations of Intensive French
Authors: Netten Joan , Germain Claude
Published: June 2010

This article gives the reasons for, and the history of, the conceptualization of intensive French. The major characteristics of core French and French immersion are reviewed, giving the principal advantages and limitations of each program. The findings of empirical research that most directly affect the development of communication skills are presented, and examples of intensive programs reviewed. From this information, characteristics deemed to be essential for the development of a new approach are described, and a definition of intensive French is offered. The article concludes with a description of the five underlying theoretical principles on which intensive French is based.
L'Évaluation de la production orale en français intensif: critères et résultats
Authors: Germain Claude , Netten Joan , Movassat Parvine
Published: June 2010

This article discusses the evaluation of the oral production of Grade 6 students who participated in the first three years of the Newfoundland and Labrador research project on intensive French (1998 2001). Three areas were investigated: the level of communication achieved; the relationship between the number of hours of instruction and the level achieved; and the development of a balance between accuracy and fluency in oral production. The instruments used included the oral interview administered at the end of the secondary core French program in Newfoundland and Labrador, based on a scale from 1 to 5, and an instrument developed by the researchers to measure the extent to which students had developed both accuracy and fluency in their oral production, evaluated on a scale of 1 to 3. The results for the three years indicate that students attained an average score of 3.7 on the interview, which corresponds to level 4 of the interview scale; that is, they were able to show considerable spontaneity in language production and to initiate and sustain general conversation. However, no direct relationship was found between number of hours of instruction and achievement; teaching strategies used appeared to exert considerable influence on achievement. It was also impossible to distinguish the two factors of accuracy and fluency in the students' oral production.
L'Évaluation de la production écrite en français intensif: critères et résultats
Authors: Germain Claude , Netten Joan , Séguin Serge
Published: June 2010

Le présent article traite de l'évaluation de la production écrite des élèves de 6e année qui ont participé, durant trois ans, au projet de recherche sur le français intensif, à Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador (1998 2001). Les trois questions suivantes sont examinées: le niveau atteint par les élèves en production écrite; la relation entre le nombre d'heures d'enseignement et le niveau atteint en production écrite; et le développement équilibré de la précision et de l'aisance en production écrite. L'instrument utilisé est une composition écrite qui a recours au processus d'écriture (13 critères). Les résultats, après trois ans, montrent que: (1) les élèves ont atteint un niveau moyen de performance semblable aux élèves québécois francophones au niveau de la 3e année et demie (3.5); (2) les élèves qui ont au moins 250 heures d'enseignement atteignent un niveau de performance significativement plus élève, tant en précision qu'en aisance; et (3) un équilibre entre la précision et l'aisance peut être atteint en production écrite, mais il ne l'est pas toujours, car les démarches d'enseignement utilisées en salle de classe constituent un important facteur qui influence les résultats obtenus.
Le Régime pédagogique du français intensif à Ottawa: le bain linguistique
Authors: Peters Martine , MacFarlane Alina , Wesche Marjorie
Published: June 2010

Les deux recherches présentées portent sur un régime pédagogique intensif de français langue seconde, le bain linguistique, lequel est fondé sur la prémisse qu'une exposition intensive à la langue seconde est plus efficace qu'une exposition plus dispersée qui vise à améliorer les atti-tudes face à l'apprentissage d'une langue au niveau débutant. Les effets d'une période intensive limitée d'exposition à la langue seconde sur les attitudes face à l'apprentissage du français langue seconde des élèves de 5° et de 6 années ont été évalués à différents intervalles pendant les années scolaires 1993-1994 et 1995-1996. Les résultats des deux évaluations indi-quent que la période intensive permet l'amélioration des attitudes, en plus d'augmenter la confiance des élèves dans leurs habiletés en français langue seconde. À long terme, l'inclusion d'une année intensive de français langue seconde dans le régime pédagogique du français de base pourrait mener à une amélioration de ce dernier.
Étude qualitative du régime pédagogique du français intensif
Authors: Germain Claude , Netten Joan
Published: June 2010

Le présent article porte sur les réactions des personnes touchées par l'implantation du régime pédagogique du français intensif dans 23 classes de 6 année (N = 587), à Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador (1998-2001). Á cette fin, des entrevues ont été réalisées auprès du responsable provincial du français langue seconde (FL2), des administrateurs scolaires des deux conseils scolaires choisis, des conseillers pédagogiques, de tous les enseignants et directeurs d'écoles concernés, de la plupart des enseignants de 7 année et des directeurs d'écoles qui accueillent les élèves du français intensif, ainsi que de plusieurs parents et élèves. Leurs commentaires, présentés en huit noyaux de contenu, regroupés en deux grands blocs, témoignent d'un très grand enthousiasme pour ce nouveau régime pédagogique du français intensif. Le succès de ce régime paraît reposer avant tout sur l'enseignant de français intensif, l'enseignant de 7 année, ainsi que sur un suivi adéquat, des ressources addition nelles, une minutieuse planification des matières et sur un changement possible dans les attentes des enseignants à l'école intermédiaire (7°, 8° et 9° années).
Intensive French and Intensive English: Similarities and Differences
Authors: Germain Claude , Lightbown Patsy , Netten Joan , Spada Nina
Published: June 2010

This article provides a historical overview and comparison of intensive English (IE) and intensive French (IF) programs in Canada. Comparisons are made in terms of the total time allotted to the intensive period, the selection of students, the number and types of schools offering the programs, the models of delivery, and the type of pedagogy and curricula. The programs are also compared in terms of learning outcomes, follow-up programs, and teacher preparation/qualifications. Reasons for the success of both programs are given and discussed in relation to the rationales for their existence. In general, the programs appear to be very similar; major differences present in IF include the compacting of the regular curriculum, the role of reading and writing, the emphasis on both accuracy and fluency, and the use of more cognitively demanding tasks.
Programs, Plans, and Practices in Schools with Reputations for ESL Student Success
Authors: Kouritzin Sandra
Published: June 2010

This article reports on a year-long comparative case study of four secondary schools in low-incidence areas (less than 6% ESL) that have a reputation for success in the educational attainment of ESL students. Multiple data collection strategies revealed that, in low-incidence areas, school-wide programs and attitudes more than specific pedagogical practices seemed to be correlated with student success. This article describes school and district programs and practices, within the categories of administrative support, community support, and school support. The implications of this research are that further understanding of educating ESL students in low-incidence as opposed to high-incidence areas is needed, and that the TESL profession should take a leading role in making connections with educational administration programs, thus ensuring that future administrators are able to plan for success.
Learner Code-Switching in the Content-Based Foreign Language Classroom
Authors: Liebscher Grit , Dailey-O'Cain Jennifer
Published: June 2010

Using a framework based on conversation analysis (Auer, 1984, 1995, 1998), this article presents an analysis of learner code-switching between L1 and L2 in an advanced foreign language (FL) classroom. It was found that students code-switch not only as a fallback method when their knowledge of the L2 fails them, or for other participant-related functions, but also for discourse-related functions that contexualize the interactional meaning of their utterances. These uses strikingly resemble code-switching patterns in non-classroom bilingual settings and show that language learners are able to conceptualize the classroom as a bilingual space. Learners orient to the classroom as a community of practice (Wenger, 1998) through their code-switching patterns as manifestations of a shared understanding about their actions and about themselves as members of that community.
A Study of Flow Theory in the Foreign Language Classroom
Authors: Egbert Joy
Published: June 2010

This article focuses on the relationship between flow experiences and language learning. Flow Theory suggests that flow experiences (characterized by a balance between challenge and skills and by a person's interest, control, and focused attention during a task) can lead to optimal learning. This theory has not yet been tested in the area of foreign or second language learning. The purpose of the present study is twofold: first, to establish the foundation for a research stream addressing flow in language learning, and second, to investigate whether flow exists in foreign language (FL) classrooms. Findings suggest that flow does exist in the FL classroom and that Flow Theory offers an interesting and useful framework for conceptualizing and evaluating language learning activities.