Foreign Language Annals最新文献

Study abroad (SA) in North America is changing in two ways: short-term trips are becoming more popular, and more students are traveling in teacher-facilitated groups. These changes raise questions about how teaching methods can help to improve outcomes in short stays abroad, particularly in the case of language learners. To better understand teachers' perspectives on pedagogy, we conducted a series of group and individual interviews with 18 college teachers who facilitate short-term language SA. The results of a constructivist grounded theory analysis showed that teachers believed pedagogy in short-term SA could be improved by integrating the SA program into the at-home curriculum, by targeting both measurable and process-based objectives, by adopting a variety of teaching strategies including experiential teaching, and by integrating interactions between students and locals in different ways.

This study reports the results of a national survey of the types and uses of assessments for matriculating secondary students into college Chinese language programs. In addition to providing an overview of college placement procedures obtained from 35 college Chinese programs, the survey also probed into the rationales behind the varied placement procedures across different colleges and universities, the range of commonly used standardized tests and related policies and perceptions, and the perceived effectiveness of such practices by 125 secondary and 74 postsecondary instructors. Our analysis identifies both practices that hinder high school students' smooth transition to college and practices that facilitate the transition and achieve optimal placement in postsecondary Chinese programs. Based on analyses of convergent and divergent practices and perspectives, we recommend a series of principles and strategies for more effective secondary-postsecondary articulation of Chinese language programs in the United States.

As an overwhelming amount of research has demonstrated that educator preparation programs do not adequately prepare instructors to teach pronunciation, this study aims to help teachers of foreign languages to implement and improve pronunciation instruction (PI) in their classroom by adapting PACE (Presentation, Attention, Co-construction, and Extension), the commonly used model for grammar instruction. The present study explores the efficacy of this model in improving learners' ability (1) to associate target phonemes with the appropriate phonological context and (2) to produce target phonemes distinctly in a spontaneous speech task. Data suggest that a modified PACE model for PI can be effective in both intermediate- and advanced-level courses. The possibility of adapting an existing and well-known method for teaching grammar would allow teachers to implement and/or improve their PI with minimal additional training.

This quasi-experimental study compares text-centered dialogs between two groups of intermediate second language (L2) French learners: traditional face-to-face (FTF) discussion groups; and groups who annotated and discussed texts through the digital social annotated reading (DSAR) platform, Hypothes.is. All participants read the same articles, with discussions guided by the same reading questions. Participants' dialogs in both conditions were coded based on types of discursive moves, then analyzed through a framework of social, textual, and linguistic affordances. Findings revealed that social affordances emerged significantly more frequently than other affordances among FTF groups while textual affordances emerged significantly more frequently than other affordances among DSAR groups. Findings support the benefits of DSAR tools for more anchored discussions over traditional FTF classroom discussions, with the caution that DSAR tools alone do not necessarily promote deep discussion of foreign language texts. Beyond pedagogical implications, this study suggests an expansion of theoretical frameworks of affordances in future DSAR research.

This article reports on a study exploring the associations between foreign language anxiety and the effectiveness of immediate and delayed corrective feedback (CF) in the acquisition of the English past tense. One hundred and two middle school English as a foreign language (EFL) learners responded to the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale for the purpose of gauging their foreign language anxiety. They were then assigned to three conditions: Immediate CF, Delayed CF, and Task Only. The three groups performed six communicative tasks in three treatment sessions, two in each session, which aimed to elicit the learners' use of the English past tense. The Immediate and Delayed CF groups received CF treatments during task performance in the first and final treatment sessions, respectively, and the Task Only group performed the learning tasks without receiving any CF treatment. The results showed that anxiety was a significant predictor of Delayed CF but not Immediate CF and Task Only. Drawing on attentional control theory, we interpret the results as suggesting that the debilitative impact of anxiety on L2 learning is triggered by a heavier processing burden delayed CF imposes on learners' cognitive resources.

This study examines the impact of instructor-led (IL) versus self-access (SA) web-based pragmatic instruction on novice second language learners' (n = 28) awareness and oral production of Spanish apologies. Two sections of a second-semester Spanish course were assigned to either the IL or the SA group. The web-based resource Dancing with Words was used to provide pragmatic instruction. Participants in the SA group worked through the materials individually, and participants in the IL group received support and guidance from the instructor. A quasi-experimental, pre-/posttest design was used to measure participants' pragmatic competence (i.e., awareness and production skills) before and after a 5-week intervention period. Results indicate three major findings: (1) learners follow developmental trajectories similar to those identified in study abroad, (2) instructor guidance is important for novice learners' development of pragmatic competence, and (3) special consideration should be given to instructional materials to ensure they align with the instructional context and goals.

Despite the solid evidence that online collaborative writing (CW) tasks benefit language learning, little is known about whether the computer-mediated communication (CMC) modality may impact the potential of online CW tasks in foreign language classrooms. This study examined the effect of task modality on the utility of CW tasks in language classrooms. Fourteen Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) learners completed Google Docs-based CW tasks in two modalities: A synchronous CMC modality entailing video-chatting in Zoom and an asynchronous CMC modality where learners interacted in Google Docs with delayed time. Through analyzing multiple data sources (i.e., peer interaction, written products, editing logs, interviews), we found that, while CMC modality did not impact writing performance, CFL learners had more language learning opportunities and more positive learning experiences in the synchronous mode than in the asynchronous one. The findings revealed multiple challenges that require attention when implementing asynchronous CW tasks in teaching.

A great deal of research has recognized the necessity of receiving proper predeparture training for being able to truly benefit from international internship experiences. However, few researchers have taken the next step by exploring how domestic programs could pedagogically and psychologically prepare students for their professional experiences abroad. This study examines the role that a language-for-specific-purposes course plays in the process of preparing students for their upcoming internship experiences in the target culture, with a focus on intercultural negotiation. The findings suggest the students were able to successfully develop the cultural awareness and communicative skills necessary to engage in the negotiation of cultural boundaries. Furthermore, the study discusses how the introduction of a role model, in-depth workplace scenarios, and creating a holistic view of one's learning experiences are the three pedagogical elements that contribute to the construction of a professional L2 self.