bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Undergraduate Internship in Conversation
Authors: Laroche Jacques M. 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT Despite the current rise in interest in language studies, two sensitive problems remain in departments of foreign languages‐limited ability in communication for lower‐division students and lack of enthusiam for literary courses for upper‐division students. The Conversation Internship may open up options beyond these programs and eventually result in an improvement of elementary language acquisition.The undergraduate role seems to be experiencing a revolution: more programs welcome advanced students to teaching duties. In agreement with the spirit of Stephen Krashen's Monitor Theory, our Conversation Internship offers comprehensible input with no error correction or grading. It is thus a moderate innovation, expecting only conversation facilitation.The coordination, planning, training, and grading of facilitator performance is controlled by a faculty member. The elementary participants are voluntary and motivated by limited incentives. Experiments conducted at this institution might be fruitfully replicated at other institutions with larger enrollments.
Wait‐Time and the Use of Target or Native Languages
Authors: Shrum Judith L. 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT In the second language class, interactions between teachers and students serve as the focal point for learning how to use the language. After the teacher asks a question, students mentally process their answers. They hear the question, decipher its sounds and figure out its meaning and begin to form an answer. How long does it take to answer a question? How long should a teacher wait for an answer? Does it take longer to answer a question in the target language than in English? These are some of the questions that this study investigates.This article reports the results of a descriptive study of wait‐time–the pause for thinking after questions and answers–in selected first‐year high school Spanish and French classes. Over 7500 classroom events were recorded and coded in order to measure and find the variance in time of3270 instances of post‐solicitation and post‐response wait‐time. The average durationofwait‐time was 1.91 seconds (S.D. = 1.64) after questions; wait‐time averaged 0.73 seconds (S.D. = 0.63) after responses. Post‐response wait‐time in all cases was short and of limited variance, indicating very little time for revision of thought in reaction to responses. Wait‐time was significantly longer after questions in the native language.
Rationale, Structure and Methodology of a French Language Program for American Bankers and Traders
Authors: Finel‐Honigman Irène 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT: Spurred by the expansion of the multinational corporations and the incursion of international banks into the American market, the Crédit Lyonnais, a world‐class French bank and one of the largest foreign banks in New York, recognized the need to institute an in‐house academic language training program. At present the Crédit Lyonnais is the only bank in the greater New York area to have such a program. This concept can serve as a model for American‐based foreign corporations or those with intensive foreign contacts. Although many universities are creating commercial foreign‐language courses, the business community is barely beginning to tap the academic market in developing in‐house programs.The program's primary objective is to provide American bankers, traders and other commercial staff with instruction in basic through advanced oral and written communication skills, and courses in inter‐cultural knowledge of French banking history, semantics and literature.Five courses are offered each semester. In each course, discussions and readings focus on business vocabulary, situations, and in the advanced courses, on analysis of economic and financial materials. The course sequence allows participants to enter as beginners and, after 3 or 4 semesters, to gain intermediate proficiency skills. Students with prior or even fluent knowledge of French enter at their specific level. Participation, although voluntary, is highly encouraged and closely monitored by upper management who themselves partake of the program.The curriculum is designed by the professor to enhance the American's awareness of and adaptability to a French business environment. Courses are conducted entirely in French and emphasize conversation, oral presentations and phonetic skills (tapes and audiovisual materials are provided). At each level commercial French textbooks, business lexicons, in‐house documentation, articles from French economic publications and socioeconomic excerpts from literary works are incorporated.
Education in the World System: The Demand for Language and International Proficiencies in Economic Development and National Security
Authors: Hoegl Juergen K. 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT: A series of national and state reports containing recommendations for improving education has prompted a reassessment of the status and goals of education in the nation and in individual states. In the context of educational reform proposals, second language and international studies gain greatest attention when discussions center on their role in economic development and national security.This paper addresses that situation from a national viewpoint and adds a state perspective with the example of developments in Illinois. Relevant statistics on international trade and the labor market are cited, and the role of language proficiencies in science, technology, and research for economic development is defined. Two converging trends are outlined: the trend toward a consensus in both the education and business communities regarding the essential role and accelerating demand for language and international proficiencies in interconnected state, national, and world economies, and the corresponding trend in higher education toward internationalized curricula, characterized by combinations of majors in professional disciplines such as business, economics, law, and agriculture with second language studies.
Teaching and the Routes to Learning a Second Language
Authors: Graman Tomas L. 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  Research in second language acquisition supports the notion that learners must have access to meaningful language (Sorenson, 24; Newmark, 15; Krashen, 13). In addition, Piagetian research in intellectual development indicates that learning is an active process of “constructing” knowledge and that there are three basic routes to knowledge: (1) the “perception” of data, (2) “action” with the data, and finally (3) a “conceptual” route consisting of formulas or generalizations about the data (Duckworth, 3). Many language teachers rely mainly on the third route; that is, they teach “correct” forms or generalizations about language and neglect to foster the use and interconnection of the other two routes.In this essay, I present data from observations of two different ESL classes. In one of the classes, the teacher uses a “prescriptive” approach and demands linguistic accuracy from the students at all times. By contrast, in the other class observed, the teacher's role is to motivate the need in the students to constantly use the language in order to share ideas about topics of immediate concern or vital interest. In this setting, students are expected to take risks, err and “construct” language. Much of this “building of language” takes place when students resolve linguistic conflicts which occur in their attempts to understand and make themselves understood. I examine the two classes in light of Piagetian research concerning the routes to knowledge and conclude by supporting the methods used in the latter class because they adequately interassociate the three routes to knowledge and help the students move beyond their current levels of linguistic development.
Beyond Vocabulary: Pragmatic Factors in Reading Comprehension—Culture, Convention, Coherence and Cohesion
Authors: Bensoussan Marsha 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  As important as vocabulary is in reading a foreign language, other factors also appear to be involved. Some of these additional factors are the reader's familiarity with conventions of written texts in the native and foreign languages, awareness of cultural differences between both languages, and knowledge of the macro‐ and micro‐level structures of a text.This paper examines evidence from different studies indicating problem areas in reading comprehension. Students' mistranslations from English to Hebrew were examined to diagnose difficulties in reading comprehension. Mistranslations and misinterpretations of illocutionary force, logical connectors, and modifiers indicated that many students were either unable to draw on a culturally appropriate memory schema to understand the texts or had preconceived notions about word meanings that dominated their interpretations and prevented them from correctly using contextual clues.
Self Evaluation in Practice Teaching
Authors: Greis Naguib 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  According to the TESOL Guidelines, the evaluation of the trainee's teaching performance is an integral part of the teacher preparation program. A crucial component is self evaluation which ideally should not only help trainees identify strengths and weaknesses of their present teaching performance, but see directions for future improvement as well.This paper discusses steps and problems involved in self evaluation and suggests a procedure and a format based on the analysis of comments by participants completing their practice teaching.
The Beginning Teacher's Cultural Competence: Goal and Strategy
Authors: Nostrand Howard Lee 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  The criteria proposed in the 1988 ACTFL Provisional Program Guidelines for Foreign Language Teacher Education (ACTFL, 1) invite elaboration: first, to delimit and structure the goal, and second, to shape a comprehensive strategy for generalizing the attainment of cultural competence by language teachers. The AATF Commission on Professional Standards has developed a useful plan which delimits the task of the beginning teacher by defining a basic level of proficiency, and which structures the definition of that goal by identifying three components of the requisite competence: sociolinguistic ability; knowledge, both descriptive and procedural; and attitudes.The strategy for advancing toward the goal must deal especially with the need for a nationwide consensus on a common core of cultural competence; support for this new dimension of teacher education; the availability and the quality of databases, which are becoming a necessary source of sociocultural knowledge; and finally, the embodiment of the new field in thestandards for certification and accreditation, where the associations of language teachers are the only constant force representing an undiluted concern for quality
Development of Sociolinguistic Skills in Spanish: Sample Activities*
Authors: García Carmen 
Published: January 2009

One of the major concerns of forvign language teaching is the development of students' sociolinguistic skills in the language they are learning that is teaching students what, when whee how and to whom to say something so that their language is not only gmmmatically adequate but sociocultumlly appropriate This paper provides sample activities in Spanish that teachers can use to help students develop these skills.The activities, which include exercises in Listening Comprehension and Oral Production, can be used at the Intermediate and Advanced levels of proficiency They have been developed to highlight native speakers' linguistic choices in different situations and focus on their use of deference markers.It is important in well‐rounded proficiency‐based instruction to provide a knowledge of and opportunities to use appropriate deference markers, where appropriate is defined in terms of native speakers' authentic discourse. While this article presents a substantial proportion of the deference markers, it does not exhaust all the possibilities. Further study of deference markers used by native Spanish speakers would prove most useful.
Prochievement Testing of Speaking
Authors: Pino Barbara Gonzalez 
Published: January 2009

Today's language teacher emphasizes, among other things, the development of students' oral skills. Therefore, many teachers are seeking or innovating ways to test the speaking skill while (1) overcoming perennial problems such as the lack of time and the subjectivity of grading, and (2) finding effective ways of making achievement testing more proficiency oriented. The author presents a practical oral testing model which she researched, developed, implemented, disseminated, piloted, and refined in a variety of middle school, secondary, and university settings in Texas over the past six years.The author presents an outline of the principal considerations involved in establishing an oral testing program and covers a range of options under each heading. Major concerns discussed include: fitting speaking tests into the syllabus and course grade, linking teaching and testing approaches (with sample formats), testing interactive and individual performance, new versus old material, and impromptu versus prepared performance. Also covered are: sample size, scoring at various levels (with sample scales), partnering procedures, the role of tapes, scheduling, planning (with sample guide), and predicted outcomes.
Using Authentic Reading Texts to Discover Underlying Sociocultural Information
Authors: Garcia Carmen 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT Reading in a foreign language involves decoding the linguistic code but just as importantly, understanding the underlying sociocultural context which the linguistic code reflects.This article describes how to use authentic Spanish language materials to design a variety of activities aimed at helping students discover and understand a text's underlying sociocultural context.The texts themselves are taken from a unit in a second year Spanish course at Miami University entitled “Rituals of Hispanic Culture” and are comprised of different types of announcements published in Hispanic newspapers: births, engagements, weddings, and obituaries. The paper presents pre‐reading, reading and post‐reading tasks aimed at facilitating comprehension.
Tele‐Classes: The Way of the Future A Report on a Language Exchange Via Satellite
Authors: Gallego Juan Carlos 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT A class of UCLA students conducted a language exchange with a group of students in Spain using a photophone—a telephone‐like device which allows the interlocutors to see each other's still picture on a small screen while talking. This exchange is referred to here as a Tele‐class.This report describes such Tele‐class while pointing out its linguistic and cultural gains, as well as its limitations. The U.S. students's responses to two questionnaires are also reported, in addition to a list of recommendations for Tele‐class planners.The experience proved to be a success, enhancing motivation, language learning, and cultural awareness. However, more similar projects and substantial research are needed to explore the full potential of the Tele‐class as a language learning environment.
Walk Your Students to Verb Competence: A Model for Reality‐Based Learning
Authors: Host Ray Elvin 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  As James Asher has ably demonstrated in Total Physical Response, physical involvement enhances language learning. Walking/not walking and the third‐person/firsr‐person contrast provide a ready model for involving students in learning verbs, in several tenses, while they create the meaning of the words they are learning. Classroom demonstration of walks, was walking, and walked not only offers active learning for a Few students; well‐planned questioning and choral responses involve the entire class in meaningful oral use of new verb forms, with the demonstration serving as a visual aid for all.Further, the demonstration‐based question‐answer sequence developed for conjugating Spanish caminar (to walk) may readily be applied to a wide variety of verb concepts which students can grasp quickly through classroom performance, in any language.
Preparing Teachers to Make a Difference in Global Education
Authors: Mantle‐Bromley Corinne 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  Our nation is in critical need of a globally competent citizenry. Educational leaders have increasingly called upon second language teachers to accept partial responsibility for preparing today's students for tomorrow's complex, interdependent world. Given the inseparable nature of language and culture and the complexities of intercultural communication, language teachers are uniquely placed to teach their students cultural understanding and intercultural skills. Unfortunately, many teachers lack a comprehension of the essence of culture and of the culture‐learning process, both of which are fundamental to teaching culture in a progressive, skill‐building fashion. Through no fault of their own, they may not have the tools necessary to teach for global understanding.This article describes an experimental course. This course tested the hypothesis that teachers, given an in‐depth understanding of culture and culture‐learning theory, and given the experiences necessary to discern the process both affectively and cognitively could successfully develop the meaningful, skill‐building, cultural curricula necessary for increased global skills and understanding.
Processing Strategies of Foreign Language Readers: Authentic and Edited Input
Authors: Young Dolly Jesusita 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  While there is increasing use of authentic texts in foreign language instruction and much has been written about using authentic texts in the foreign language class, little empirical data have been collected regarding authentic materials. This study examines cognitive and affective responses to one authentic and three edited texts.Four levels of language learners (first through fourth year) at a major university in the United States were asked to read the same Spanish authentic passage and an edited passage written for the level of their Spanish course. After each silent reading, they performed think‐alouds in the native language to provide data on strategy‐use, and recall protocols, also in the native language, to provide reading comprehension scores. After the recall protocol task, subjects were interviewed to assess their affective responses to each text.Results indicated that all students comprehended significantly more from the authentic passage than from the edited ones. The majority of students also responded more favorably to the authentic passage than to the edited ones.This research suggests that students would benefit more from reading authentic texts, having cultural information written in English, or reading edited texts written with the characteristics often found in authentic texts, such as bold headings, subheadings, pictures, obvious rhetorical organization, etc., than from reading edited texts that lack these characteristics and are typically found in first‐ and second‐year language textbooks)1.
Using Computer Networks to Enhance Foreign Language/Culture Education
Authors: Cononelos Terri , Oliva Maurizio 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  The call for more authentic communication in the language classroom has led to a variety of educational innovations such as content‐based and learner‐centered instructional approaches. Although these approaches developed concurrently with the application of computer technology to language teaching, the computer has not traditionally been heavily used in either content‐based or learner‐centered language courses.This article reports on a content‐based, learner‐entered Italian language and culture class (Italian 403–1) which used Usenet (NEWS) and electronic mail (E‐Mail) to connect students with native speakers interested in communicating about contemporary cultural issues. Section One briefly outlines the history of the use of computer networks in language education. Section Two describes the design, implementation, and outcomes of Italian 403–1 and discusses the potential importance of NEWS for language teachers. Finally, Section Three addresses the benefits and challenges associated with the use of computer networks in the language classroom.
An Attempt to Reduce Ethnocentrism in the Foreign Language Classroom
Authors: Cadd Marc 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  This study investigated an important but little understood issue in foreign language education: ethnocentrism. Research regarding how well second language instructors succeed in reducing ethnocentrism is scarce. Some researchers (e.g., Lambert) suggest that prejudice and ethnocentrism, which interfere with the attainment of openmindedness and cross‐cultural understanding, are already well established in children by the age of 12. If this is true, can second language instructors succeed in achieving their goals?The current study expanded upon the research of Tuttle et al. (1979) in which support was found for the hypothesis that ethnocentrism may be more efficiently reduced if the instructor stresses cultural similarities instead of differences when presenting cultural information about the target culture. The hypothesis had not been examined with college‐aged subjects.The three specific research questions investigated in this study were: (1) Does an approach to teaching German culture which emphasizes cultural similarities between German and American culture result in a statistically significant decrease in general ethnocentrism compared to an approach which emphasizes cultural differences? (2) Does an approach to teaching German culture which emphasizes cultural similarities between German and American culture result in a statistically significant decrease in ethnocentrism toward Germans compared to an approach which emphasizes cultural differences? (3) To what extent do variables selected on the basis of existing literature correlate to one's initial level of ethnocentrism?The study utilized a quasiexperimental intact group design. Nine sections of first‐semester German students were randomly assigned to one of three groups: one in which German and American cultural similarities were stressed, one in which German and American cultural differences were stressed, or a control group. All participants completed an attitude survey and provided demographic information prior to any of the cultural presentations. The author then presented six cultural units to each experimental group. Depending on the group viewing the presentations, either cultural similarities or differences were emphasized. All participants subsequently completed the same attitude survey in order to assess changes in ethnocentrism.Although members of the similarities group demonstrated a greater decrease in ethnocentrism than members of the differences group, the results of the experiment were inconclusive because the difference was not statistically significant. However, the author does not view the results as a basis to dismiss the hypothesis. Rather, the data obtained suggest the need for further research on ethnocentrism in the foreign language classroom. The author discusses potential pedagogical implications and makes recommendations for future studies.