JLLT Volume 7 (2016) Issue 2
Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching
Volume 7 (2016) Issue 2 (PDF)
JLLT 7 Volume (2016) Issue 2.pdfI. Articles
K. James Hartshorn (Provo (Utah), USA):
Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching 7 (2), 155-181 (PDF)
Abstract
The peer review process is vital to the evaluation of scholarship in every discipline including Applied Linguistics and its related fields. Yet, in many disciplines, the landscape is shifting as longstanding concerns withpeer review resurface in a world awash with changing social expectations and advances in technology that provide innovations in the evaluation and dissemination of scholarship. While scholars in many fields areabandoning traditional methods of review, where do scholars in the fields of Applied Linguistics stand amid such change? The present study identifies the collective voice of the field, regarding peer review as currentlypracticed in contrast to alternatives gaining traction in other fields. Data elicited from journal editors, editorial board members, and reviewers were analyzed to reveal perceptions of the peer review process, the variousroles of reviewers, different methods of review as well as numerous strengths, limitations, and suggestions for improvement that could benefit practice.
Marcela Ruiz-Funes (Statesboro, GA, USA):
Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching 7 (2), 183-197 (PDF)
Abstract (English)
This article presents an overview of the role and value of writing in Spanish in the foreign language curriculum at the university level in the USA. It examines key notions affecting the approaches used to teaching writing, including the belief that writing competence is transferred from L1 to L2, the concepts of writing as a means to learn the language, to learn content, and to develop composing and critical thinking skills, and the effect of tasks and their characteristics in foreign language writing, among others. In addition, it explores the purposes - social, academic, and professional - for students to write in Spanish across the different levels of language instruction from elementary to graduate-level courses. Suggestions to foster the development of writing abilities at all levels are provided.
Abstract (Español)
Este artículo presenta una visión general del papel y del valor de la escritura en español en el plan de estudios de lenguas extranjeras a nivel universitario en los EE.UU. Se examinan nociones claves que afectan los enfoques utilizados para la enseñanza de la escritura entre las cuales se incluyen la creencia de que la competencia de escritura se transfiere de la primera a la segunda lengua, los conceptos de la escritura como un medio para aprender el idioma, para aprender el contenido y para desarrollar la composición y habilidades de pensamiento crítico, y el efecto de las tareas y sus características en la escritura en un segundo idioma, entre otros. Además, se exploran las razones - sociales, académicas y profesionales - por las cuales los estudiantes escriben en español a través de diferentes niveles de la enseñanza del idioma desde cursos básicos a nivel posgrado. Se proporcionan sugerencias para fomentar el desarrollo de las habilidades de escritura en todos los niveles.
Anna Krulatz (Trondheim, Norway) & Anne Dahl (Trondheim, Norway):
Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching 7 (2), 199-218 (PDF)
Abstract (English)
The present paper describes a study of Norwegian EFL teachers’ self-perceived preparedness to work with multilingual students. The study employed an online survey to examine teachers’ self-perceived preparedness to work with multilingual students, the training they had received in the area of multilingualism, their beliefs about knowledge, skills and resources needed to work with multilingual students, and their interest in receiving additional training. The findings suggest that, while the majority of the teachers have not received specific training on multilingualism, most of them feel confident about their ability to work with linguistically diverse student populations. Implications for practice in EFL teacher education programs are discussed.
Abstract (Norwegian)
I denne artikkelen presenterer vi en studie av hvor godt forberedt norske engelsklærere selv mener at de er på å arbeide med flerspråklige elever. Gjennom en spørreundersøkelse undersøkte vi hvor godt forberedt lærerne følte seg å arbeide med flerspråklige elever, hvorvidt de hadde formell kompetanse i å arbeide med flerspråklige elever, hva slags kunnskap, ferdigheter og ressurser de selv mente at trenges for å arbeide med flerspråklige elever, og hvorvidt de var interesserte i å motta ytterligere opplæring i temaet. Funnene tyder på at mens et flertall av lærerne ikke har formell kompetanse i å arbeide med flerspråklighet, føler de fleste av dem seg forholdsvis trygge på sin egen evne til å arbeide med språklig mangfoldige elevgrupper. Vi diskuterer implikasjoner av funnene for engelskfaget i lærerutdanningene.
Inez De Florio-Hansen (Kassel, Deutschland) :
Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching 7 (2), 219-255 (PDF)
Abstract (English)
The overall aim of the present article is to inform teachers, educationalists and psychologists about newer findings in educational research and the challenges resulting from meta-analytic studies in the field of foreign language teaching and learning. Starting from general implications of science and research for effective teaching and successful learning, a brief overview is given of the differences between qualitative and quantitative research, especially experimental studies in the form of Randomized Control Trials (RCTs). Subsequently, the impact of meta- and mega-analytic studies on foreign language pedagogy, known worldwide, is analysed. Taking teacher and learner individuality as well as different learning contexts into account, a practice-oriented integration of older and newer findings of scientific endeavor is proposed. The differences between teaching based on conventional methods and direct instruction in the form of interactive whole-class teaching are identified on the basis of the necessary interplay of backward design, curriculum design, instructional systems development and lesson-plan design. The main results of the above reflections are concretized in the Model of Effective Teaching (MET) that comprises thirty steps. In Section 5, examples of teaching English and French as foreign languages illustrate and describe how to put the most relevant research findings into everyday practice. These teaching units differ from proposals given in textbooks and foreign language journals, by their science-oriented approach. They can be more or less directly applied to the teaching and learning of any foreign language. Furthermore, they serve as models of effective teaching and successful learning in order to help teachers and other practitioners to transfer important scientific findings to their own practice.
Abstract (Deutsch)
Der vorliegende Beitrag informiert Lehrende, Erziehungswissenschaftler sowie Fremdsprachenforscherinnen und -forscher über neuere Ergebnisse der pädagogischen Psychologie. Besonders herausgestellt und erläutert werden die Resultate meta-analytischer Studien, die für das Lehren und Lernen von Fremdsprachen von besonderer Bedeutung sind. Auf der Grundlage allgemeiner Implikationen von Wissenschaft und Forschung für das effektive Lehren und das erfolgreiche Lernen von Fremdsprachen folgt ein Überblick über die Unterschiede zwischen qualitativer und quantitativer Forschung, insbesondere über wissenschaftliche Experimente in Form randomisierter kontrollierter Untersuchungen (RCTs). Der Einfluss von weltweit durchgeführten meta- und mega-analytischen Untersuchungen wird mit Blick auf die praktische Umsetzung im Fremdsprachenunterricht analysiert. Von besonderer Bedeutung sind dabei die Persönlichkeiten der Lehrenden und Lernenden und der spezielle Lernkontext. Im Anschluss wird eine praxisorientierte Integration älterer und neuerer Forschungsergebnisse vorgenommen. Die direkte Instruktion in Form des interaktiven Klassenunterrichts wird dem Frontalunterricht gegenübergestellt. Als Planungshilfe für den Unterricht dient das MET (Model of Effective Teaching and Successful Learning), welches in 30 Schritten die wesentlichen Erkenntnisse evidenzbasierter Forschung für die Praxis des Fremdsprachenunterrichts nutzbar macht. Das Zusammenspiel von Lehrplanvorgaben, Zielen und Inhalten sowie Lehr- und Lernstrategien wird schliießlich anhand zweier wissenschaftsorientierter Unterrichtsbeispiele konkretisiert.
II. Book Review
Günter Schmale (Lyon, France):
Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching 7 (2), 259-262 (PDF)