Pub Date : 2022-05-01DOI: 10.1515/cercles-2022-2035
Federico Silvagni, Esther Moruno Lpez, Ema Hubčkov
Abstract This article presents an international telecollaboration programme called UniLingua, which was carried out between eight universities and university language centres during the 2020/2021 academic year. By promoting language exchanges, UniLingua aims to satisfy one of the most immediate academic needs of university students, which is to improve their plurilingual and pluricultural profile. This report describes, firstly, the origin and development of the project, andsecondly, based on the data collected from the questionnaires filled out by theparticipants, this report shows the most relevant results of the first edition ofthe project.
{"title":"Learning languages through virtual exchange: an international university network","authors":"Federico Silvagni, Esther Moruno Lpez, Ema Hubčkov","doi":"10.1515/cercles-2022-2035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2022-2035","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article presents an international telecollaboration programme called UniLingua, which was carried out between eight universities and university language centres during the 2020/2021 academic year. By promoting language exchanges, UniLingua aims to satisfy one of the most immediate academic needs of university students, which is to improve their plurilingual and pluricultural profile. This report describes, firstly, the origin and development of the project, andsecondly, based on the data collected from the questionnaires filled out by theparticipants, this report shows the most relevant results of the first edition ofthe project.","PeriodicalId":53966,"journal":{"name":"Language Learning in Higher Education","volume":"12 1","pages":"351 - 364"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41591208","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-01DOI: 10.1515/cercles-2022-2039
Julia Zabala Delgado, Laurent Rouveyrol
Abstract Verbal interaction has been the subject of a growing interest among language professionals in Europe since the CEFR was published in 2001; in linguistics, verbal interaction has long been studied. In the Bakhtinian approach, it is even considered “the fundamental reality of language”. All types of interaction share the fact that they are dynamically co-constructed by participants. How then can we assess or certify interactional competence on an individual basis when dynamic instability prevails? What criteria can be defined in order to deconstruct interactional competence into specific operational criteria, if interaction is intrinsically multidimensional? These are the questions that we address in this paper. To do so, this paper presents the insights gained as a result of the co-operation between two certification systems: CertAcles (Spain) and CLES (France), both belonging to NULTE (Network of University Language Testers in Europe). These certification systems have agreed to collaborate extensively, sharing their constructs and assessment routines. As a result, CertAcles is shifting towards more contextualized tasks and CLES is considering adopting descriptive assessment scales for interaction (C1 level). We hope to demonstrate that the materialization of scientific collaboration of this kind can help improve individual systems.
{"title":"Assessing verbal interaction: towards European harmonization. Insights from the co-operation between Spanish and French language exams for Higher Education (CertAcles/CLES)","authors":"Julia Zabala Delgado, Laurent Rouveyrol","doi":"10.1515/cercles-2022-2039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2022-2039","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Verbal interaction has been the subject of a growing interest among language professionals in Europe since the CEFR was published in 2001; in linguistics, verbal interaction has long been studied. In the Bakhtinian approach, it is even considered “the fundamental reality of language”. All types of interaction share the fact that they are dynamically co-constructed by participants. How then can we assess or certify interactional competence on an individual basis when dynamic instability prevails? What criteria can be defined in order to deconstruct interactional competence into specific operational criteria, if interaction is intrinsically multidimensional? These are the questions that we address in this paper. To do so, this paper presents the insights gained as a result of the co-operation between two certification systems: CertAcles (Spain) and CLES (France), both belonging to NULTE (Network of University Language Testers in Europe). These certification systems have agreed to collaborate extensively, sharing their constructs and assessment routines. As a result, CertAcles is shifting towards more contextualized tasks and CLES is considering adopting descriptive assessment scales for interaction (C1 level). We hope to demonstrate that the materialization of scientific collaboration of this kind can help improve individual systems.","PeriodicalId":53966,"journal":{"name":"Language Learning in Higher Education","volume":"12 1","pages":"129 - 157"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49352764","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-01DOI: 10.1515/cercles-2022-2043
Dagmar Sieglová
Abstract Language learning is a life-long process. In a world that connects people across nations through study, work, travel and socializing, new chances and challenges arise, intensifying a need to improve modern foreign language skills. The aim of language education, therefore, should not be limited to providing mere language instruction but it should also involve the development of learner autonomy so that students are equipped with strategies, methods, and approaches for managing their language development over the course of their whole lives. Higher Education Institution (HEI) teaching practices need to react to this reality through their teaching approaches and methodologies. The following study conducted with ŠKODA AUTO University presents an analysis of the current students’ simple language management (LM) process, which reveals their language learning attitudes, behaviors and ‘acts toward’ language. Data were collected between 2017 and 2020 from students’ written narratives describing and analyzing critical incidents (CI) that reflect the learning strategies the students adopt, the study styles they use, motivation for learning, as well as the actions they plan and conduct. As a result, these findings form the basis of a deeper understanding of the language teaching process, which in turn enhances language education methodology.
{"title":"Critical incidents as a window into simple language management","authors":"Dagmar Sieglová","doi":"10.1515/cercles-2022-2043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2022-2043","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Language learning is a life-long process. In a world that connects people across nations through study, work, travel and socializing, new chances and challenges arise, intensifying a need to improve modern foreign language skills. The aim of language education, therefore, should not be limited to providing mere language instruction but it should also involve the development of learner autonomy so that students are equipped with strategies, methods, and approaches for managing their language development over the course of their whole lives. Higher Education Institution (HEI) teaching practices need to react to this reality through their teaching approaches and methodologies. The following study conducted with ŠKODA AUTO University presents an analysis of the current students’ simple language management (LM) process, which reveals their language learning attitudes, behaviors and ‘acts toward’ language. Data were collected between 2017 and 2020 from students’ written narratives describing and analyzing critical incidents (CI) that reflect the learning strategies the students adopt, the study styles they use, motivation for learning, as well as the actions they plan and conduct. As a result, these findings form the basis of a deeper understanding of the language teaching process, which in turn enhances language education methodology.","PeriodicalId":53966,"journal":{"name":"Language Learning in Higher Education","volume":"12 1","pages":"105 - 127"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47376318","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-01DOI: 10.1515/cercles-2022-2048
Suvi Kotkavuori, Kaisa Hahl, R. Hildén
Abstract This qualitative study explores how native peers as teaching assistants can support language learning in Higher Education. The data of five semi-structured group interviews of 15 teaching assistants in total were analysed thematically. The results indicate that the assistants embraced multiple roles during the programme and within the lessons. However, in the role of a peer student who collaborated on an equal level with the learners, they could best facilitate learning and communication. As native speakers, they complemented the teacher’s expertise by their regional and up-to-date cultural and linguistic knowledge. This article supports a wide view of mediation adopted by the CEFR Companion Volume and focuses on its two mediation activities. The so-called didactic triangle was used to illustrate how native peers mediated between the teacher, the student and the subject to facilitate the language learning process. The assistants acted as mediators in different ways, interculturally and pedagogically. Nevertheless, a few assistants experienced challenges when assisting at lower CEFR levels. Thus, it is essential to discuss roles and expectations as well as the process together with the teachers, the students and the assistants.
{"title":"Native peers as mediators and experts in language learning in Higher Education","authors":"Suvi Kotkavuori, Kaisa Hahl, R. Hildén","doi":"10.1515/cercles-2022-2048","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2022-2048","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This qualitative study explores how native peers as teaching assistants can support language learning in Higher Education. The data of five semi-structured group interviews of 15 teaching assistants in total were analysed thematically. The results indicate that the assistants embraced multiple roles during the programme and within the lessons. However, in the role of a peer student who collaborated on an equal level with the learners, they could best facilitate learning and communication. As native speakers, they complemented the teacher’s expertise by their regional and up-to-date cultural and linguistic knowledge. This article supports a wide view of mediation adopted by the CEFR Companion Volume and focuses on its two mediation activities. The so-called didactic triangle was used to illustrate how native peers mediated between the teacher, the student and the subject to facilitate the language learning process. The assistants acted as mediators in different ways, interculturally and pedagogically. Nevertheless, a few assistants experienced challenges when assisting at lower CEFR levels. Thus, it is essential to discuss roles and expectations as well as the process together with the teachers, the students and the assistants.","PeriodicalId":53966,"journal":{"name":"Language Learning in Higher Education","volume":"12 1","pages":"327 - 349"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47744555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-01DOI: 10.1515/cercles-2022-2045
Art Tsang
Abstract Language laboratories exist in many language centres across the globe. Situated in the popularity of self-access and computer-assisted language learning in the present era, the study investigated tertiary-level English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ general and, particularly, negative views of speech analysis software. Two hundred and eighty intermediate-level (CEFR B1 and B2 levels) EFL participants completed trial sessions with some free speech software in which they listened to and recorded utterances to practise English intonation at a language laboratory in Hong Kong. Each participant was observed during the session, completed a questionnaire, and attended a brief post-questionnaire interview after the session. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. The results showed that learning with this kind of software was perceived generally positively in relation to language enhancement and self-access learning. However, from the qualitative data collected about their negative views and concerns, three themes emerged: absence of a teacher, an interaction-less environment, and the little value of graphic outputs. This article concludes with a discussion of these findings and implications for language educators and researchers in self-access and computer-assisted language learning, which are in vogue globally nowadays. Suggestions for addressing learners’ negative views and comments, which have not received much attention among stakeholders, are also provided.
{"title":"Self-access learning of English intonation with speech software: examining learners’ perceptions with a focus on their concerns and negative comments","authors":"Art Tsang","doi":"10.1515/cercles-2022-2045","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2022-2045","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Language laboratories exist in many language centres across the globe. Situated in the popularity of self-access and computer-assisted language learning in the present era, the study investigated tertiary-level English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ general and, particularly, negative views of speech analysis software. Two hundred and eighty intermediate-level (CEFR B1 and B2 levels) EFL participants completed trial sessions with some free speech software in which they listened to and recorded utterances to practise English intonation at a language laboratory in Hong Kong. Each participant was observed during the session, completed a questionnaire, and attended a brief post-questionnaire interview after the session. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. The results showed that learning with this kind of software was perceived generally positively in relation to language enhancement and self-access learning. However, from the qualitative data collected about their negative views and concerns, three themes emerged: absence of a teacher, an interaction-less environment, and the little value of graphic outputs. This article concludes with a discussion of these findings and implications for language educators and researchers in self-access and computer-assisted language learning, which are in vogue globally nowadays. Suggestions for addressing learners’ negative views and comments, which have not received much attention among stakeholders, are also provided.","PeriodicalId":53966,"journal":{"name":"Language Learning in Higher Education","volume":"12 1","pages":"209 - 229"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46845799","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-01DOI: 10.1515/cercles-2022-2037
Anna Maria De Bartolo
Abstract The present paper stems from an awareness that English has become the most widely used means of intercultural communication on a global scale. Therefore, intercultural communication is more likely to occur through English used as a lingua franca than in any other language used as a lingua franca. English has transcended boundaries and has allowed people from distant cultures to come closer and find common grounds. If, on the one hand, the rise of English has been criticized as a threat to minority languages and cultures, on the other, English has been the means by which people are connected across national and international borders. European Universities and University Language Centres are known to be multicultural environments that provide students with opportunities to familiarise with diverse cultural backgrounds and experience non-native English speech. If therefore, university staff and professionals engage regularly with a multilingual population, they have to be prepared to deal with and respond to their different needs. Within this framework, University degree programs need to be able to cope with a changing cultural and linguistic environment where multilingual speakers increasingly interact in English with other non-native English speakers. In the light of these considerations, this small case study intends to raise awareness of the need to integrate academic degree programs with courses which specifically address Intercultural Communication and English as a Lingua Franca. A sample of Italian university websites has been analysed with a view to identifying the extent to which the aforementioned issues are incorporated within the course programs observed. Preliminary results will be described and considerations suggested.
{"title":"Identifying ELF programs in Italian University websites: what gaps need to be filled","authors":"Anna Maria De Bartolo","doi":"10.1515/cercles-2022-2037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2022-2037","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The present paper stems from an awareness that English has become the most widely used means of intercultural communication on a global scale. Therefore, intercultural communication is more likely to occur through English used as a lingua franca than in any other language used as a lingua franca. English has transcended boundaries and has allowed people from distant cultures to come closer and find common grounds. If, on the one hand, the rise of English has been criticized as a threat to minority languages and cultures, on the other, English has been the means by which people are connected across national and international borders. European Universities and University Language Centres are known to be multicultural environments that provide students with opportunities to familiarise with diverse cultural backgrounds and experience non-native English speech. If therefore, university staff and professionals engage regularly with a multilingual population, they have to be prepared to deal with and respond to their different needs. Within this framework, University degree programs need to be able to cope with a changing cultural and linguistic environment where multilingual speakers increasingly interact in English with other non-native English speakers. In the light of these considerations, this small case study intends to raise awareness of the need to integrate academic degree programs with courses which specifically address Intercultural Communication and English as a Lingua Franca. A sample of Italian university websites has been analysed with a view to identifying the extent to which the aforementioned issues are incorporated within the course programs observed. Preliminary results will be described and considerations suggested.","PeriodicalId":53966,"journal":{"name":"Language Learning in Higher Education","volume":"12 1","pages":"255 - 272"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49017949","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-01DOI: 10.1515/cercles-2022-2040
Takanori Sato, C. Hemmi
Abstract The benefit of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) for second language (L2) development has been addressed by second language acquisition theory and investigated by empirical studies. However, previous studies have not demonstrated the effectiveness of CLIL precisely as most of their study participants took CLIL and non-CLIL courses concurrently. Additionally, existing studies have focused on the effectiveness of CLIL in primary and secondary education and rarely addressed it in higher education. The present study considered the limitations of the previous studies and investigated the development of L2 English productive skills (i.e., speaking and writing) through CLIL conducted in a university in Japan. This study employed a pre-experimental pretest-posttest design, in which all participants received CLIL instruction for four months undertaking the pretest and posttest. The results showed that their productive skills improved significantly. The analysis of pretest and posttest scores also revealed the specific areas of productive skills that benefitted from CLIL, such as Task Achievement (speaking and writing), Coherence and Cohesion (writing), and Grammatical Range and Accuracy (writing). However, this study revealed that the degree of improvement was small, and that vocabulary and critical thinking skills did not improve significantly. This study’s findings provide empirical evidence for the effectiveness of CLIL itself on L2 development in higher education.
{"title":"Development of second language productive skills through CLIL in a Japanese university: a pre-experimental longitudinal study","authors":"Takanori Sato, C. Hemmi","doi":"10.1515/cercles-2022-2040","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2022-2040","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The benefit of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) for second language (L2) development has been addressed by second language acquisition theory and investigated by empirical studies. However, previous studies have not demonstrated the effectiveness of CLIL precisely as most of their study participants took CLIL and non-CLIL courses concurrently. Additionally, existing studies have focused on the effectiveness of CLIL in primary and secondary education and rarely addressed it in higher education. The present study considered the limitations of the previous studies and investigated the development of L2 English productive skills (i.e., speaking and writing) through CLIL conducted in a university in Japan. This study employed a pre-experimental pretest-posttest design, in which all participants received CLIL instruction for four months undertaking the pretest and posttest. The results showed that their productive skills improved significantly. The analysis of pretest and posttest scores also revealed the specific areas of productive skills that benefitted from CLIL, such as Task Achievement (speaking and writing), Coherence and Cohesion (writing), and Grammatical Range and Accuracy (writing). However, this study revealed that the degree of improvement was small, and that vocabulary and critical thinking skills did not improve significantly. This study’s findings provide empirical evidence for the effectiveness of CLIL itself on L2 development in higher education.","PeriodicalId":53966,"journal":{"name":"Language Learning in Higher Education","volume":"12 1","pages":"309 - 326"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45453043","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-01DOI: 10.1515/cercles-2022-2050
F. Baquero, P. Dupont
Abstract This article presents the results of a study in which we favoured the communic’actionnelle approach in the context of the teaching/learning process of French as a Foreign Language FLE. The study was carried out within the two undergraduate language degrees in two Colombian universities. All the social actors involved in the process used their prior knowledge, their individual culture, their experiential experiences, and all the capacities they possess to reach the final task, namely, the project of collaborative writing of an online newspaper and animation of a radio show. The dynamic of integrated evaluation throughout the project played an important role in this study. We show the benefits of a cross-evaluation carried out as a continuum being a factor of awareness, motivation, and self-reflection among learners.
{"title":"Vers une dynamique collaborative d’enseignement/apprentissage au sein de la démarche communic’actionnelle","authors":"F. Baquero, P. Dupont","doi":"10.1515/cercles-2022-2050","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2022-2050","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article presents the results of a study in which we favoured the communic’actionnelle approach in the context of the teaching/learning process of French as a Foreign Language FLE. The study was carried out within the two undergraduate language degrees in two Colombian universities. All the social actors involved in the process used their prior knowledge, their individual culture, their experiential experiences, and all the capacities they possess to reach the final task, namely, the project of collaborative writing of an online newspaper and animation of a radio show. The dynamic of integrated evaluation throughout the project played an important role in this study. We show the benefits of a cross-evaluation carried out as a continuum being a factor of awareness, motivation, and self-reflection among learners.","PeriodicalId":53966,"journal":{"name":"Language Learning in Higher Education","volume":"12 1","pages":"29 - 55"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43418884","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-01DOI: 10.1515/cercles-2022-2047
M. Ennis, Kim A. Barchi, Alfonso Merello Astigarraga, Andrew Wimhurst
Abstract Intensive language programs have increased in popularity in recent years. They are perceived as a means to help current or prospective university students improve their language competencies and academic skills in their medium(s) of instruction in a short amount of time prior to enrolment and/or parallel to their degree courses. However, there has been little empirical research on practices and efficacies of such programs. This paper presents a pilot project conducted during a pre-sessional intensive English course for first-year students at a trilingual university in Italy. Specifically, the project employed a mixed-method approach to explore the differences between project-based learning (PBL) and the practice of teaching from a coursebook. The results suggest that while there was no difference in learner engagement and learning outcomes between a pilot group which engaged exclusively in PBL and a control group which was taught from a coursebook, the participants expressed particularly positive attitudes to PBL, although they also expressed a desire for more teacher-led instruction. The findings merit further investigation of PBL in this and similar contexts, including the longitudinal effects of PBL and the trialling of different combinations of PBL with explicit and deductive instruction.
{"title":"A pilot course with project-based learning in an intensive English program","authors":"M. Ennis, Kim A. Barchi, Alfonso Merello Astigarraga, Andrew Wimhurst","doi":"10.1515/cercles-2022-2047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2022-2047","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Intensive language programs have increased in popularity in recent years. They are perceived as a means to help current or prospective university students improve their language competencies and academic skills in their medium(s) of instruction in a short amount of time prior to enrolment and/or parallel to their degree courses. However, there has been little empirical research on practices and efficacies of such programs. This paper presents a pilot project conducted during a pre-sessional intensive English course for first-year students at a trilingual university in Italy. Specifically, the project employed a mixed-method approach to explore the differences between project-based learning (PBL) and the practice of teaching from a coursebook. The results suggest that while there was no difference in learner engagement and learning outcomes between a pilot group which engaged exclusively in PBL and a control group which was taught from a coursebook, the participants expressed particularly positive attitudes to PBL, although they also expressed a desire for more teacher-led instruction. The findings merit further investigation of PBL in this and similar contexts, including the longitudinal effects of PBL and the trialling of different combinations of PBL with explicit and deductive instruction.","PeriodicalId":53966,"journal":{"name":"Language Learning in Higher Education","volume":"12 1","pages":"57 - 85"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46107291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-01DOI: 10.1515/cercles-2021-2023
Tugba Elif Toprak-Yildiz, T. Çolak, M. Koc, Betul Dusunceli
Abstract The present study aimed to apply Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) treatment to foreign language (FL) anxiety, a complex and multidimensional phenomenon that has been found to exert profound effects on many aspects of FL learning and performance. EMDR originally emerged as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and a great number of studies demonstrated empirically its potential for treating and coping with various psychological disorders. The present study used the Single-Case Design (SCD). EMDR was given to two volunteer adult EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners experiencing severe FL anxiety. The effect of the treatment on FL anxiety was tracked and measured by using two separate scales of FL anxiety and obtaining self-reports of distress from the subjects. The long-term effects of EMDR were checked through two separate follow-up assessments. The results clearly demonstrated that EMDR was effective in reducing FL anxiety and increasing subjects’ positive cognition.
{"title":"The application of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing treatment (EMDR) on adults with foreign language anxiety","authors":"Tugba Elif Toprak-Yildiz, T. Çolak, M. Koc, Betul Dusunceli","doi":"10.1515/cercles-2021-2023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2021-2023","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The present study aimed to apply Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) treatment to foreign language (FL) anxiety, a complex and multidimensional phenomenon that has been found to exert profound effects on many aspects of FL learning and performance. EMDR originally emerged as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and a great number of studies demonstrated empirically its potential for treating and coping with various psychological disorders. The present study used the Single-Case Design (SCD). EMDR was given to two volunteer adult EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners experiencing severe FL anxiety. The effect of the treatment on FL anxiety was tracked and measured by using two separate scales of FL anxiety and obtaining self-reports of distress from the subjects. The long-term effects of EMDR were checked through two separate follow-up assessments. The results clearly demonstrated that EMDR was effective in reducing FL anxiety and increasing subjects’ positive cognition.","PeriodicalId":53966,"journal":{"name":"Language Learning in Higher Education","volume":"11 1","pages":"489 - 505"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48276797","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}