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Promoting acts of kindness on campus: Views of Chinese international students in the UK
No full textThere is increasing research on the challenges experienced by Chinese international students during their studies in the UK such as language barriers, social interactions, academic achievement, and psychological adjustment. This study proposes to understand these challenges through a kindness approach. It explores how sixty-three Chinese Master’s students from a British university interpreted the challenging and supportive features of their learning environment through the notion of (un)kindness. Drawing on 63 semi-structured interviews, the study reveals a range of ways these students experienced academic staff and student interactions as “unkind,” as well as their experiences of teaching materials, coursework feedback, and administrative support. It identifies three key factors that students perceive impede acts of kindness on campus. The findings offer important insight into the practice and the value of using a kindness approach to improve Chinese international students’ academic and social experiences in the UK
Exploring effects of institutional, interpersonal, & individual communication on university students' attitudes about diversity and institutional belongingness
No full textUniversity campuses are critical spaces where the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in society are discussed, debated, and understood. However, even as campus communities in the US and elsewhere grow more diverse, higher education institutions are facing an existential crisis–high dropout rates, low enrollments, growing disenchantment with education, and issues of otherization and racism on campus. It has never been more necessary for administrators, faculty, staff and all stakeholders to understand the role of effective institutional, intergroup, and individual communication in increasing students’ sense of university belongingness, and positively affecting their attitudes towards ‘others’. Using the lens of systems theory and intergroup contact theory, this study analyzes how institutional, interpersonal, and individual level factors affect college students’ attitudes about diversity, and their university belongingness. An online survey of 434 students from a midsized public university in the U.S., indicated that specific institutional communication strategies, intergroup interactions between faculty and students, as well as individual experiences such as microaggressions, significantly affected student attitudes about diversity, and their sense of campus belongingness. Results highlighted both areas of hope, as well as key challenges for higher education administrators. Implications, including recommendations for student success, greater intercultural collaboration, and creating a more inclusive campus community, are discussed
Introduction to the Special Issue: Reimagining the role of literature in intercultural language education: New approaches and future perspectives
No full textVocabulary networks workshop 2: Activating words in a network
No full textWorkshop 2 explores some larger vocabulary networks than those presented in Workshop 1 (1,000 words instead of 100), and introduces some additional ways of activating words in a network (e.g., by using new parameters in our models). The simulations will show that raising a network’s activation level may not be as easy as we would have expected, and that different kinds of events may cause either temporary or permanent changes in the networks. Findings will be discussed in relation to the previous literature on passive and active vocabularies. Several implications for vocabulary learning and teaching will also be considered
Purpose, outcome, and methodology in computer-assisted language learning publications: A systematic review
No full textAlthough CALL is still an emerging area of study in many countries, several studies have shown the significant contribution of these countries to the development of CALL worldwide, among which Iran is no exception. Contrary to the vast number of review studies on how this interdisciplinary area of study has been developed at the international level, there are very few studies presenting the development of CALL at the national level, especially in the highly contributing countries. Accordingly, the present study is an attempt to systematically review the trend of CALL in Iran focusing on research purpose, outcome, and methodology. The two major databases of WoS and Scopus were searched from 2007 to 2020. Following the exclusion and inclusion criteria, 229 studies were selected for the present systematic review. The research purpose and outcome of the studies were analyzed according to four classifications of linguistic, affective, cognitive/ metacognitive, and technology domains. The findings indicated a large number of studies in linguistic and affective domains with a positive effect of technology. Furthermore, a few studies have been conducted with a focus on the cognitive/ metacognitive and technology aspects. The analysis of the research methodology of the publications revealed a lack of sufficient data about participants, research setting, and duration of the treatment/tasks. More importantly, the absence of longitudinal qualitative studies in natural settings was found as a major shortcoming. It is worth mentioning that measurement instruments/data collection methods, data analysis methods, and the implemented devices were clearly explained in nearly all the studies
Japan university EFL students’ experience, attitudes, and perceived effectiveness of watching gameplay for language-learning purposes
No full textDigital game-based language learning (DGBLL) is a field that promotes language learning by combining game entertainment and mechanics inducive to learning. Researchers have proposed evidence of various language-learning benefits, yet downsides persist, such as negative stigmas, a lack of participation of non-gamers, and potential adverse consequences from splitting one’s attention between controlling the gameplay and learning language. Recently, watching gameplay popularity has seen exponential growth, yet the potential for language-learning applications has not been considered. Soliciting stakeholders’ experience, attitudes, and perceived effectiveness is a critical determiner of user adoption for new technologies and predicting implementation success. This study first addresses the merit of watching gameplay as a pedagogical method through an overview of the available literature, concentrating on areas of insufficiency and opportunity. It then investigates students’ experience and perceptions to consider feasibility from a practical standpoint through a survey of 139 university students in Japan. The main findings include a higher proportion of watchers than players, including a higher percentage of females, and positive responses regarding ease of use, learning opportunities, and preference, especially for learners who play or watch games. But learners also expressed a need for scaffolding support while voicing limitations in the perceived quality and practicality of the learned language
Reconceptualizing critical cultural awareness for the context of FL literature education
No full textThe construct of critical cultural awareness (CCA) is often regarded as an element pertaining to intercultural communicative competence (Byram, 1997, 2021). In this model, CCA is defined as the ability to “evaluate, critically, and on the basis of a systematic process of reasoning, values in one’s own culture and other cultures” (Byram, 2021, p. 90). Although the potential of literature to develop learners’ CCA is widely accepted by intercultural education scholars, Byram’s definition has some limitations as a theoretical basis for teaching students how to “evaluate and reason critically” about literary texts, as it does not take into account certain aspects of literary reading and critical interculturality that are essential in contemporary foreign language (FL) teaching and learning. This study aims to redefine CCA for the specific context of secondary literature education in a bottom-up manner, based on an analysis of student texts about migratory literature. To this end, 97 students learning Spanish as a FL in the upper forms of pre-university education (aged 15-19) at four schools in the Netherlands were asked to write an evaluation of two literary texts they read in class. Via qualitative analysis of these texts with Atlas.ti, three content categories – social justice, emotions and conflict – and two evaluative categories - cultural representation and transformation – were identified for CCA. The findings of this study have implications for other FL literature teaching settings, as a generic rubric for assessment of student texts was developed based on the criteria that emerged from the data
Mobile language learning designs and contexts for newly arrived migrants
No full textThe mobile phone has become an indispensable device for communication and managing everyday life among newly arrived migrants. Learning a new language is a crucial aspect of integration and professionalization in a foreign country, and the phone is a tool that is also used by migrants also for language learning. The purpose of this study is to investigate how mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) is situated in the context of newly arrived migrants from the Middle East in Sweden as a means to learn a new language. The designs and context of MALL apps used with migrants are explored from a pedagogical perspective and investigated by means of observations and interviews with migrants. The results show that there are difficulties with how MALL apps are used by migrants, as the apps are built on individualised drilling activities with vocabulary training which are neither motivating nor immediately connected to the everyday language learning needs of the migrants. However, gamification aspects built into the apps together with push notifications attract most of the users who do engage with the apps, and these aspects are incentives for building a routine around MALL app usage. The design around the content and functionality plays an important role in how learners make use of mobile applications
Fostering foreign language student teachers’ glocal competence through telecollaboration
No full textThe interconnectivity of peoples worldwide is sufficient rationale for foreign language learners to develop the relevant competences for intercultural interactions in both local and global–glocalcontexts. This study presents a conceptualisation of glocal competence for Jamaican foreign language teaching professionals from a content analysis of three relevant competence frameworks (PISA, and Byram’s and Deardorff’s ICC models). It further reports on Phases 1 and 2 of ClerKing, a Franco-Jamaican telecollaborative project between Applied Foreign Languages (AFL) students of English from Clermont Auvergne University (UCA), France, and Modern Languages student teachers of French/Spanish from Shortwood Teachers’ College (STC), Jamaica. Through qualitative content analysis, parameters of glocal competences were identified and examined against the different frameworks. Pre-liminary findings show that student teachers developed negotiation, adaptive, and collaborative skills in their professionalization process. However, local values impeded understanding of and appreciation for alternate worldviews on certain topics discussed
On the learning of multi-word units via flashcard applications
No full textKnowledge of multi-word units (MWUs) helps to facilitate communicative fluency and research of them has gained more and more attention in recent years in regard to teaching methods and designing materials for second language (L2) acquisition. Incidental and intentional vocabulary learning are two dominant approaches to acquiring MWUs. In lexical studies, much research has examined the effects of these methods in various contexts. However, a gap in the research remains in regard to materials development. This study aims to discuss various interventions that affect the teaching and learning of MWUs. This paper will highlight how more exposure and focusing learners’ attention on particular MWUs is essential to efficient acquisition of MWUs fluency, and that this can be achieved through intentional learning activities such as the use of appropriately designed specialist digital flashcard-style computer applications. Specifically, pedagogical implications are discussed when such applications employ either spaced repetition or a Leitner algorithm