1,720,967 research outputs found
Positive Interdependence in Virtual Reality A Novel Approach to Learning Italian as a Foreign Language
No full textDrawing on extensive research with students of Italian as a Foreign Language, this book investigates whether immersive VR environments can foster positive interdependence as the foundation of successful cooperative learning in blended educational settings. Through digital storytelling activities, students navigated virtual worlds while developing crucial mediation strategies that facilitate language acquisition through goal-oriented collaboration. Critical gaps in language education are addressed by examining how VR technology impacts student relationships, teamwork dynamics, and the development of communicative competencies essential for our increasingly digital society. Moving beyond traditional approaches to language pedagogy, the book demonstrates how virtual experiences can create authentic contexts for meaningful linguistic interaction. It also provides practical frameworks for integrating immersive technologies into language curricula, offers strategies for developing mediation skills in virtual settings, and presents comprehensive guidelines for teachers implementing tech-based language education. Discover how the future of language education lies not just in what we learn and teach, but in how we connect, virtually and meaningfully, with one another
Developing Multiliteracies Through Digital Storytelling. A Case Study of Learners of Italian as a Foreign Language
Full text linkMultiliteracy approaches are based on enhancing students’ agency and participation, which can be fostered by integrating digital storytelling into linguistic activities. However, literature lacks practical examples of how students can develop multiliteracies in learning Italian as a foreign language with digital storytelling. This article attempts to fill this gap by presenting the results of task-based language learning activities conducted on students of Italian as a foreign language with the digital storytelling platforms Wakelet and izi.Travel. Evidence will show how multiliteracies manifested in agency, creativity and social engagement
The results of a pilot study on immersive Virtual Reality to boost learner-to-learner mediation strategies in Italian as a foreign language
Full text linkThe development of immersive technologies in language education has led to pedagogical experimentations on enhancing students’ collaborative skills through task-based immersive Virtual Reality (iVR), a technology that allows users to experience real-like interactions with objects and other individuals. Despite positive correlations between the use of iVR in language learning and task accomplishment (Chen et al. 2022; Wu & Hung 2022; Romano et al. 2023), evidence is missing on the development of mediation strategies in a foreign language (FL), regarding learner-tolearner mediation strategies. Therefore, this study presents the results of a pilot study conducted at the University of Siena (Italy) on a pair of students of Italian as FL. The students were involved in digital multimodal composing (DMC) activities on the iVR platform Immerse. Results showed that mediation strategies surfaced through verbal and non-verbal facilitations of peer interactions, meaning-making, conceptual talk encouragement, and interaction management. It also highlighted methodological considerations on using iVR to involve language students in training scenarios for the development of mediation skills transferrable to real-life socio-pragmatic contexts.Rozwój technologii immersyjnych w edukacji językowej umożliwił eksperymenty pedagogiczne mające na celu poprawę umiejętności współpracy uczniów poprzez zadaniową immersyjną wirtualną rzeczywistość (iVR), technologię umożliwiającą użytkownikom doświadczanie interakcji przypominających rzeczywiste kontakty z obiektami i innymi osobami. Pomimo pozytywnych korelacji pomiędzy wykorzystaniem iVR w nauce języka a realizacją zadań (Chen i in. 2022; Wu & Hung 2022; Romano i in. 2023), brakuje dowodów na rozwój strategii mediacyjnych w języku obcym (JO), zwłaszcza w odniesieniu do strategii mediacyjnych między uczącymi się. W związku z tym niniejsze badanie przedstawia wyniki badania pilotażowego przeprowadzonego na Uniwersytecie w Sienie (Włochy) na dwóch studentach uczących się języka włoskiego jako JO. Studenci uczestniczyli w działaniach związanych z cyfrową kompozycją multimodalną na platformie iVR Immerse. Wyniki pokazały, że strategie mediacyjne pojawiały się dzięki werbalnym i niewerbalnym ułatwieniom interakcji między uczestnikami, np. wspomaganie tworzenia znaczeń, zachęcanie do rozmów konceptualnych oraz zarządzanie interakcjami. W artykule zwrócono również uwagę na metodologiczne kwestie związane z wykorzystaniem iVR do angażowania osób uczących się języków w scenariuszach zajęć, które rozwijają umiejętności mediacyjne, które mogłyby być przenoszone na rzeczywiste konteksty społeczno-pragmatyczne
The impact of a post-pandemic educational technology training on usability and acceptance by teachers of Italian as a foreign language
Full text linkThe implementation of technologies in language learning classrooms has been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, with a consequential boost in the evolution of educational methodologies towards blending in-person with remote teaching. Consequently, it is necessary that teachers are given opportunities to train their technological competences to conduct and manage an increasingly digitalized language learning environment. Despite the importance of digital approaches to language education, research on the impact of technologies on the teachers’ acceptance and endorsement of digital tools in educational settings are limited, especially with regards to teaching Italian as an L2. Therefore, this article bridges this gap by analyzing the potential implications of a technology-based methodological training on teachers’ adoption and implementation of technologies in educational contexts. It presents the results of a mixed-methods investigation conducted on a group of Italian L2 teachers taking a four-weeks training course on educational technology. Teachers took pre- and post-course TAM tests (Davis, 1989) and participated to online focus groups. Results confirmed the successful impact of the training course on teachers’ acceptance of digital tools and practices. However, the positive effects of technology use on the linguistic competence of Italian L2 students was debated by the teachers. By further investigating survey and focus group responses, this article provides evidence for encouraging teachers’ integrations of technologies in Italian L2 educational contexts. L’impatto sulla loro usabilità e accettazione da parte degli insegnanti di italiano come lingua straniera di una formazione post-pandemica sulle tecnologie didattiche L’uso delle tecnologie digitali nelle classi di lingua straniera ha subito un’accelerazione con la pandemia di Covid-19, con una conseguente evoluzione di metodologie glottodidattiche ibride che combinano l’insegnamento da remoto con quello in presenza. È diventato dunque necessario sostenere la formazione tecnologica di insegnanti per permettere loro di gestire e condurre lezioni di lingua. Nonostante l’importanza di approcci digitali alla didattica linguistica, poche ricerche sono state dedicate all’impatto delle tecnologie sull’accettazione e l’utilizzo di strumenti digitali da parte di docenti, specialmente per quanto riguarda l’insegnamento dell’italiano L2. Per cercare di colmare tali lacune, questo articolo presenta i risultati di un’indagine sull’accettazione e l’applicazione di strumenti digitali da parte di un gruppo di insegnanti di italiano L2 iscritti ad un corso di formazione sulle tecnologie educative. I docenti hanno risposto a questionari TAM (Davis, 1989) e partecipato a focus groups online. I risultati hanno dimostrato l’impatto positivo del corso sui livelli di accettazione e di pratica didattica con le tecnologie da parte degli insegnanti, che hanno però aperto un dibattito riguardo ai benefici delle tecnologie digitali sulle competenze linguistiche di studenti di italiano L2. Attraverso l’analisi delle risposte degli insegnanti ai questionari e alle interviste, l’articolo evidenzierà l’importanza di favorire l’integrazione delle tecnologie digitali in contesti di glottodidattica dell’italiano L2
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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