Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 2012, vol. 2, no. 1
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Item Book review(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2012-03)Item Integrating content and language in English language teaching in secondary education: Models, benefits, and challenges(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2012-03) Banegas, Darío LuisIn the last decade, there has been a major interest in content-based instruction (CBI) and content and language integrated learning (CLIL). These are similar approaches which integrate content and foreign/second language learning through various methodologies and models as a result of different implementations around the world. In this paper, I first offer a sociocultural view of CBI-CLIL. Secondly, I define language and content as vital components in CBI-CLIL. Thirdly, I review the origins of CBI and the continuum perspective, and CLIL definitions and models featured in the literature. Fourth, I summarise current aspects around research in programme evaluation. Last, I review the benefits and challenges of this innovative approach so as to encourage critically context-responsive endeavours.Item Ego boundaries and attainments in FL pronunciation(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2012-03) Baran-Łucarz, MałgorzataThe paper reports on a study designed to examine the relationship between the thickness of ego boundaries and attainments in FL pronunciation after a clearly structured form-focused practical course of phonetics. The research involved 45 first-year students of the Institute of English Studies in Wroclaw, Poland, who had attended around thirty 90-minute classes in phonetics. To measure the thickness of their ego boundaries, the Hartmann Boundary Questionnaire (HBQ) was administered. This permitted an examination of which particular types of ego boundaries are related to accuracy in foreign language (FL) pronunciation. The basis for comparing the pronunciation levels of the participants was the Pronunciation Attainment Test consisting of three parts: reading a passage and two vocabulary lists. A t test demonstrated that the differences between the pronunciation levels of the thick and thin ego boundary learners were nonsignificant. However, further statistical analysis (Pearson correlation) showed a positive weak correlation between 3 types of boundaries (represented by Categories 7, 8 and 12 of the HBQ) and attainments in pronunciation. More specifically, the less organized the direct environment (e.g., the working place) of the subjects was and the more preference the participants showed for perceiving and accepting blurred borders between constructs, the better their pronunciation was. A closer look at particular students revealed the importance of boundaries between thoughts and feelings, and boundaries related to defensive mechanisms and to sensitivity in FL pronunciation learning.Item Contents, Notes(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2012-03)Item Editorial(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2012-03) Pawlak, MirosławItem A critical review of research on strategies in learning Chinese as both a second and foreign language(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2012-03) Jiang, Xiaoli; Cohen, Andrew D.This article critically reviews strategy research on learning Chinese both as a second and foreign language. Through a careful examination of major data bases in both the Chinese and English languages, the article summarizes research in the field and the principal research methods used in the studies reviewed. Moreover, key limitations in research designs, inconsistencies in reported findings, inappropriate use of research methods, and weaknesses in both Chinese- and English-language publications are discussed. The article concludes by calling for future research paying more attention to current language learning strategy theories and practices.Item EFL learners’ metaphors and images about foreign language learning(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2012-03) Farjami, HadiIn this paper, I will argue that awareness of images and metaphors held by foreign language learners about the nature of the target language and its learning can be of substantial value and provide teaching practitioners with useful insights about how to deal with various language learning problems. To elicit images which learners hold about foreign language learning, a questionnaire was given to 350 learners of English in different places in Iran. The questionnaire asked the respondents to provide images about learning a foreign language by using a sentence completion task: “Learning a foreign language is like . . .” The responses gained in 200 questionnaires were content-analyzed and the identified images and metaphors were summarized under more broad-ranging categories. The information that the metaphors and the resulting metaphorical categories provide and the theoretical interpretations which can plausibly be made are discussed in some detail and put in a cognitive-psychological perspective.Item Quantifying controlled productive knowledge of collocations across proficiency and word frequency levels(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2012-03) Nizonkiza, DéogratiasThe present study explores the relationship between controlled productive knowledge of collocations and L2 proficiency, the role of frequency in controlled productive knowledge of collocations, and the quantifiability of controlled productive collocational knowledge growth alongside L2 proficiency and word frequency levels. A proficiency measure and a productive collocation test modelled on Laufer and Nation (1999) were presented to Belgian and Burundian English majors. The results show that scores on both tests distinguish between proficiency levels and, furthermore, highly correlate. This suggests that controlled productive knowledge of collocations develops as proficiency increases, supporting earlier studies (Boers, Eyckmans, Kappel, Stengers, & Demecheleer, 2006; Bonk, 2001; Eyckmans, Boers, & Demecheleer, 2004; Gitsaki, 1999) that had established a relationship between collocational knowledge and L2 proficiency. The results also show that the more frequent the collocations, the better they are known, which highlights the crucial role played by frequency in knowing words (Nation & Beglar, 2007). Furthermore, the number of collocations added can be quantified and we observe moderate gains at beginner and advanced levels, and impressive gains at intermediate levels. This supports and extends Laufer’s (1998) and Zhong and Hirsh’s (2009) findings and lays basic ground work for teaching collocations, the amount of which should increase with proficiency levels.