Universitetet i Agder: UiA Journal System
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CLILiG als Chance für den Deutschunterricht in Norwegen: Wunschdenken oder realisierbares Konzept?
No full textWährend CLIL mittlerweile einen festen Platz in der europäischen Bildungslandschaft hat, scheint sich in Norwegen die Umsetzung des Konzeptes auf vereinzelte Angebote in englischer Sprache zu begrenzen. Gleichzeitig ist die Förderung fächerübergreifenden CLIL-Unterrichts ein wichtiges Ziel der europäischen Sprachenpolitik. Unser Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit der Frage, welche Rahmenbedingungen eine Implementierung von deutschsprachigem CLIL-Unterricht (CLILiG) an norwegischen Schulen ermöglichen könnten beziehungsweise inwiefern CLILiG bereits praktiziert wird. Auf der Grundlage einer Fragebogenerhebung unter 80 Deutschlehrer*innen zielt die hier vorgestellte Studie darüber hinaus darauf ab, Haltungen der Unterrichtenden zu CLILiG abzufragen und aufzudecken, welche Weiterbildungsangebote von Unterrichtenden benötigt werden, um eine Umsetzung von CLILiG in Norwegen möglich zu machen. Unsere Daten zeigen eine große Bereitschaft der Befragten, mit CLILiG zu arbeiten. Sie betonen, dass CLILiG-Angebote mehrsprachiges Arbeiten schulen und fachlich und sprachlich zu verbesserten Kompetenzen der Schüler*innen führen können. Gleichzeitig wird hervorgehoben, dass neben fachlichen und sprachlichen Kompetenzen sowohl adäquate Unterrichtsmaterialien als auch die erforderlichen Rahmenbedingungen an den Schulen vorhanden sein müssen, um CLILiG in Norwegen erfolgreich etablieren zu können. 
Oral skills and learner agency in the foreign language classroom: Reflections on self-regulated learning and feedback in a Nordic perspective
No full textLearner agency is frequently advocated as a basic principle of contemporary language education, involving learner engagement and autonomy. This principle is supported by research in the fields of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) and formative assessment (FA). These two perspectives may be further linked to models of feedback in the sense that feedback is not only related to feedback on tasks, but also to learning strategies and self-regulation. Related to this, there is evidence that self-assessment (SA) and communication strategies (CSs) have potential for advancing student learning in the language learning classroom.
In the national curricula of foreign languages in the Nordic countries, the concepts of learner agency and self-regulated learning are emphasized as important for developing students’ proficiency. However, in the research literature, little attention has been paid to the combined strategies of SRL and agency in relation to learners’ oral skills. In this article, we discuss factors influencing the usefulness and effectiveness of feedback and how SRL and FA, more specifically SA and CSs, may promote oral skills in the foreign language classroom. Finally, we stress the need for more empirical studies, involving teachers and researchers, examining SRL strategies and learner agency in a Nordic school context.
Keywords: Learner agency; formative assessment; self-regulated learning; student involvement, communication strategie
Exploring L2 English Proficiency and Translation of Academic English Vocabulary
No full textKnowledge of academic English vocabulary is essential for upper secondary L2 English learners preparing for university studies, yet previous research suggests students in Scandinavian settings may need support to acquire this lexis (Edgarsson, 2017; Henriksen & Danelund, 2015). The abundance of Graeco-Latin cognates between European languages and academic English has been shown to lessen the learning burden of academic English vocabulary for speakers of Romance languages (Cobb, 2000; Petrescu et al., 2017). However, less research has been conducted for speakers of Scandinavian languages who also have appropriate translations of Germanic origin for this vocabulary. Interestingly, previous studies have indicated that proficient Norwegian-speaking students taking tertiary studies made extensive use of Graeco-Latin cognates when translating academic English vocabulary, but research has yet to expand this investigation to upper secondary students and across proficiency levels. Therefore, the current study investigated if Norwegian-speaking students (N= 132) in their first year of upper secondary education produced Graeco-Latin cognates when translating academic English. Findings showed extensive use of L1 Latinate cognate forms to translate the English target words. However, less proficient learners had significantly fewer cognate translations and significantly more untranslated target words than more proficient learners. Findings suggest that in-class instruction raising awareness of Graeco-Latin cognates in academic English may be worthwhile, especially for less-proficient learners.
Keywords: Academic vocabulary, cognates, translation, English language learners, vocabulary knowledge, proficiency, educations
 
Acquiring English Through Virtual Worlds
No full textThis article presents the results from an MA thesis published at the University of Agder in Norway in 2019 (Dasic, 2019). It studies the connection between Norwegian lower secondary pupils’ gaming habits and their essay grades and lexical richness in their L2 English, as well as their attitudes towards gaming and language learning. Data were collected from 14 Norwegian lower secondary pupils, with a total of 20 essays Three methods were used to answer the re- search questions. First, statistical tests were run in SPSS to discover possible differences in grades in correlation to time spent gaming. Following, a qualitative corpus analysis of 12 texts was conducted to see what lies behind the quantitative numbers. Finally, six semi-structured interviews were conducted with the aim to elicit the participants’ attitudes toward gaming and language learning with their longitudinal aspects in mind.
The results revealed that there is a statistically significant positive correlation between the amount of time the participants spent gaming and their English essay grades. The findings also suggest that large amounts of time on spent gaming are beneficial to other aspects of the student’s English proficiency, such as greater self-confidence when speaking English and creativity when writing. In addition, findings concerning the motivation behind gaming suggest that teachers of L2 English should be aware of the possibility to implement activities either in the classroom or as homework to enhance some of the pupils’ motivation for learning English. Furthermore, some of the informants in the interviews reported a desire for more gaming centered or open-school writing tasks, as they believe it would give them a greater opportunity to show knowledge gained by gamin
Adverb-adjective combinations in young writers’ English (EL1 and EL2)
No full textThe topic of the present study is adverb-adjective combinations in narrative writing by lower secondary school pupils in Norway and the UK. The investigation is based on subsets of the TRAWL (Tracking Written Learner Language) and GiG (Growth in Grammar) corpora and thus compares English as a second language with first-language usage (EL2 and EL1). A number of differences were identified between the two writer groups. While adverb-adjective constructions, such as so happy, much better and really bad, were more frequent and widespread in EL2, they showed more variability in EL1 regarding syntax, semantics and lexical choice. In particular, the amplifying function of modifiers was more dominant in EL2 writing at the cost of other modifier functions. There was also a stronger concentration on a few highly frequent intensifiers in the EL2 than in the EL1 material
Cross-linguistic influence in the acquisition of relative clauses by Norwegian learners of English
No full textThis paper reports on an exploratory study of cross-linguistic influence in the acquisition of relative clauses by young Norwegian learners of English, comparing L1 Norwegian and L2 English material from the TRAWL (Tracking Written Learner Language) Corpus to L1 English material from the GiG (Growth in Grammar) Corpus. Previous reports of cross-linguistic influence in this domain have usually involved language pairs that have very different relativization strategies. This study investigates whether similarities between relative clause systems may lead to more subtle effects in the choice of relativizer, the type of head nominal, the syntactic function of the relativized item, the extent of relativization from embedded clauses and the use of relative clauses in special constructions such as existentials and clefts. Although the material is limited, the study found traces of the Norwegian system in the learners L2 English, signalling that this is an area worth further investigation. The learners struggled with the choice between who and which, but used that/zero in a very similar way to their L1 English peers. The L2 English group also had slightly higher frequencies of relative clauses belonging to existentials and clefts, and where the relativized item stemmed from a further embedded clause. These results are consistent with a usage-based theory of second language acquisition, where learners are assumed to transfer features of constructions from their L1 when they are similar enough for them to make a cross-linguistic identification
Teacher cognition about oral skill development in the foreign language classroom: A literature review from Norway and Sweden
No full textThe study of language teacher cognition (LTC) allows us to understand better language teaching regarding what teachers know, how they come to know it, and how they draw on their knowledge. Due to the recently increasing LTC research interest but simultaneously lack of synthesis and overview in Norway and Sweden, a descriptive review of the literature was conducted. Results show a great variety of topics in both countries. However, multilingualism in Norway and assessment in Sweden stand out as particularly well-researched. In addition, results also show little research collaboration among two educationally-similar countries regarding LTC. In this sense, this literature review was initiated with an a priori interest in identifying LTC research on oral skill development that would allow the establishment of joint research ventures among the authors in both countries
Interaksjonsmønstre i språkklasserommet: Hvordan tilrettelegge for læring og bruk av målspråk?
No full textI kommunikativ språkundervisning anses det som helt essensielt at elevene får praktisert målspråket muntlig i klasserommet gjennom alle deler og nivåer av språkopplæringen. Likevel viser studier fra norske klasserom at det er stor variasjon mellom ulike språkfag når det gjelder hvilke muligheter elever får for muntlig deltakelse på målspråket: Mens engelsk oftest er hovedspråket i engelskklasserom på ungdomstrinnet, er elevers muligheter for bruk av fransk i franskklasserommet svært begrenset (Vold, 2022). Samtidig er det store forskjeller innad i fagene mellom ulike klasserom. Denne artikkelen gjør noen dypdykk inn i et lite utvalg engelsk- og franskklasserom i norske ungdomsskoler og undersøker hvordan ulike interaksjonsmønstre tilrettelegger for muntlig elevdeltakelse. Dataene stammer fra videoopptak av 21 engelsktimer og 20 fransktimer på 9. og 10. trinn (elevalder 14-15 år) fra fem norske ungdomsskoler. Artikkelen diskuterer likheter og forskjeller mellom de ulike klasserom med tanke på hvor mye og hva slags målspråkbruk elevene produserer, samt hvordan lærere responderer på denne språkbruken i form av språklige korreksjoner eller andre typer tilbakemeldinger og oppfølgingskommentarer. Hensikten med studien er å belyse hvordan ulike språkbruks- og tilbakemeldingspraksiser gir ulike muligheter for læring, samt å inspirere til økt bevissthet om og økt fokus på læringsfremmende interaksjonspraksiser i språkundervisning
Digital technology in a crisis: Role of digital and cloud maturity in organisations surviving and thriving through pandemic crisis
No full textThe COVID-19 epidemic forced Singapore to implement a smart lockdown in April 2020. As a result, many businesses were forced to rapidly expedite their shift to digital technologies. Despite many businesses' valiant efforts and great accomplishments, the epidemic has revealed the various ways in which these businesses are susceptible to a crisis. Digital technology has proven to be one of the most essential options for many businesses seeking to grow. This entails making the transition from active experimenting to active scaling up. Regardless of the immense obstacles that many businesses are facing today, they have now recognized that this is the moment to focus and act on new principles and strategies in order to adapt to the changing situation.
This manuscript is summary of the results from the qualitative content analysis conducted during the dissertation, to study in what ways are these financial services institutes created or adjusted strategies based on digital technology to become more robust in contexts marked by high uncertainty levels and disruptions. Workplace innovation can be described as the extent to which businesses seek out new ideas in order to improve the engagement of their employees by improving their working conditions, fostering a culture of competent environmental change response, and increasing productivity. On the other hand, digital technology can be defined as all devices, systems, electronic tools, and other resources that, process, generate, and store data