40 research outputs found
Exploring multilingual dynamics
No full textThis master thesis addresses the increasingly relevant topic multilingualism in educational settings, a reflection of global trends in linguistic and cultural diversification. The research is significant as it explores the practical and emotional implications of multilingualism on students, particularly in the context of Norwegian schools. It aims to provide insights that can inform educational practices and policies to better support linguistic diversity and inclusion.
The study analyses the dynamic of multilingualism among 8th and 9th-grade students. The study investigates how variables interact and influence the academic and social experiences of the students. The research questions used are as follows: Do 8th and 9th graders cluster into distinct profiles based on their engagement in translanguaging practices and experiences with multilingualism? And How do multilingual 8th and 9th grade students’ beliefs about multilingualism and their engagement in translanguaging practices affect their social interactions, academic practices, and identity in Norwegian schools?
A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining quantitative data from an anonymous questionnaire with qualitative data from focus group interviews. The quantitative data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and two-step cluster analysis, while thematic analysis was used for the qualitative data.
The study found that students who speak more languages are generally more engaged with and supported in their multilingualism, compared to those who speak less languages. The results indicated that students generally acknowledge the benefits of and are positive towards multilingualism. Additionally, they utilize multilingual practices, such as translanguaging, in various contexts, such as academic and social settings and to express emotions. It was also found that students attribute different languages to their different identities.
The findings suggest that supportive school environments and positive teacher attitudes significantly enhance students’ multilingual experiences and their academic and social outcomes
Policies, textbooks, and curriculum constraints to integrating literature into language education: EFL teacher perspectives from Russia
No full textEmploying a qualitative design, this exploratory study examined the challenges and constraints encountered by foreign language teachers in Russia when using literature in their lessons in primary, secondary and tertiary education. Consisting of interviews with nine Russian EFL teachers, the study’s findings indicate that education policies, a strong focus on standardized testing, poor quality textbooks, and a lack of institutional support are not only hindering a wider adoption of literary texts as a language resource, but are also likely hampering language learning in students. The study presents policymakers, as well as school and university administrators, with insights into the structural issues that might be preventing foreign language teachers from more effectively integrating literature into their lessons, and offers recommendations that could help them to formulate policies and strategies that address these issues. Šis tyrimas paremtas nepublikuotais apklausos duomenimis, kuriuos autorius (2018) surinko tirdamas 140-ies Rusijos anglų kalbos mokytojų požiūrį į literatūrą kaip į kalbos mokymo(si) šaltinį. Remiantis pusiau struktūriniu interviu, išsamiai nagrinėjami konkretūs iššūkiai ir suvaržymai, kuriuos patiria Rusijos anglų kalbos mokytojai pagrindinėje, vidurinėje ir aukštojoje ugdymo pakopose, kai įtraukia literatūrą į savo pamokas (Rusijos švietimo ministerijai rekomenduojant). Šiam tyrimui buvo apklausti devyni Rusijos anglų kalbos mokytojai iš Maskvos mokyklų ir universitetų, su jais buvo susisiekta elektroniniu būdu per atitinkamus jų institucijų administracinius padalinius. Interviu duomenys patvirtino apklausos duomenis, susijusius su iššūkiais ir apribojimais, kuriuos patiria mokytojai, ir nuodugniau atskleidė šių apribojimų pobūdį. Devyni mokytojai ugdymo turinio reikalavimus, nuostatą gerai parengti mokinius standartizuotiems testams, žemos kokybės užsienio kalbos mokomąją medžiagą ir nepakankamą jų institucijų skatinimą įvardino kaip ribojančius jų gebėjimą efektyviai įtraukti literatūros komponentą į užsienio kalbos pamokas. Šis tyrimas yra reikšmingas, nes tai yra vienas iš nedaugelio tyrimų, kurie leidžia išsamiai išnagrinėti apribojimus, su kuriais susiduria anglų kalbos mokytojai Rusijoje, norėdami įtraukti literatūrą į savo pamokas; straipsnyje taip pat pateikiamos rekomendacijos, kaip įveikti šiuos apribojimus. Siekiama skatinti geresnį institucijų ir mokytojų bendradarbiavimą kuriant ir įgyvendinant užsienio kalbų ugdymo politiką, taip pat kuriant mokytojų rengimo programas, kurių tikslas – plėsti užsienio kalbų mokymo įvairovę ir perteikti visapusiškesnę kalbos mokymosi patirtį asmenims, besimokantiems pagrindinėje, vidurinėje ir aukštojoje ugdymo pakopose
EFL Vocabulary through Gaming: How pupils learn new words through playing videogames
No full textThis study focused on finding correlations between playing different genres of videogames and their receptive and productive English vocabulary. It also delved into how the use of Metacognitive Learning Strategies impacted the students’ vocabulary. The study used a new scale for collecting information on the Metacognitive Learning Strategies used. Lastly it found connections to how gaming influenced the students’ habits of consuming and producing English media content.
This was a quantitative study done using a questionnaire with the participants being in 8th to 10th grade (n=116). The students were from one school in the south-east of Norway.
The aim of the study was to find out if gaming finding place outside of the classroom and school activities had a positive influence on the students’ English learning. With the new curriculum changing the focus of what is important to focus on in the English classroom today, this study tries to change the opinions on gaming as a valid learning method. It is important for students that their hobbies are validated by the adults around them, and by doing so there might be an increase in motivation
Language teacher multilingualism in Norway and Russia: Identity and beliefs
No full textMultilingualism has witnessed growing interest as a subject of academic study and as a state to aspire to for many of the world's citizenry. In tandem with this growing interest, countries around the world have started to implement foreign language curricula at schools that seek to prepare the coming generations to thrive in an increasingly multilingual global environment. In this respect, language teachers are likely to play a pivotal role in promoting the learning of multiple languages among students, with their beliefs about multilingualism informing their practices. This study reports on the beliefs of 460 secondary school teachers of English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Chinese in Norway and Russia regarding the benefits of being or becoming multilingual, the affordances of multilingual teachers, and the promotion of multilingualism in their respective countries. The findings indicated statistically significant differences between the participants based on the number of languages they taught and, to some extent, their country of residence. The observed differences hold important implications for teacher education programs and initiatives promoting the use of multilingualism as a resource in language education.publishedVersio
Social Media and Willingness to Communicate in English
No full textThis thesis investigates diverse factors potentially impacting 7th-grade pupils' English communication engagement on social media platforms. The research question for this thesis is: How does the use of social media affect pupils' willingness to communicate in English? Willingness to communicate (WTC) is an emerging study field with visible gaps within its Extramural digital environment (ED) context. This study seeks to analyse these gaps by employing a mixed-method approach, employing a quantitative survey and qualitative interviews.
Building upon Bandura's social cognitive theory, MacIntyre's WTC model, and previous WTC studies, this study has conducted semi-structured interviews with fifteen participants in total to investigate the contextual and individual variables that affect pupils' WTC. Permission for the study and audio recordings was obtained from the project school, the principal, the parents, and the pupils.
The study's findings indicate that social media platforms can positively affect pupils' willingness to communicate in English. The results reveal that children are exposed to a significant volume of English language media daily, contributing to their WTC through various forms. With the advancement of technology and the widespread use of social media, the interview participants conveyed that they were able to create safe ED environments for English communication centered around the content they find enjoyable. In addition, various factors, such as familiarity with interlocutors, online communities, platforms, self-confidence, self-efficacy, and anxiety, had all impacted pupils' willingness to communicate. Nevertheless, this study has also acknowledged the significance of recognizing the potential negative elements of social media, such as its contribution to linguistic mistakes or cyberbullying. Therefore, this study has utilized Bandura's social cognitive theory as a framework to elucidate the various factors of social media that contribute to pupils' willingness to communicate
Role-Play in the Norwegian EFL Classroom
No full textThis master’s thesis investigates the effect role-play can have on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ speaking fluency, willingness to communicate (WTC) and speaking and listening self-efficacy. By using a mixed methods approach including classroom observations, pre- and post-questionnaires and a pre-and post-speaking test, this study aims at filling a research gap in Norwegian EFL classrooms regarding the use of role-play. The participants were four 5th-grade Norwegian EFL classes divided into two groups: the experimental group and the control group. The theoretical framework includes David Kolb’s experiential learning theory (ELT), Albert Bandura’s social cognitive learning theory (SCLT) and Merrill Swain’s output hypothesis. The results indicate that role-play does have a positive effect on Norwegian EFL 5th-grade learners’ speaking fluency and speaking self-efficacy
Fidelity to participants when researching multilingual language teachers: A systematic review
No full textThe research field of multilingualism in education has grown exponentially over the last two decades, with more and more studies published every year on the need for teachers to validate the whole linguistic repertoire of their students and help them draw on their multilingualism as a resource. What has, conversely, not been accorded sufficient attention by researchers is the multilingualism of the teachers tasked with realising this. This oversight, as it were, raises ethical issues for researchers that go beyond macro ethical considerations like the need to ensure participant anonymity, their protection from harm, and data confidentiality. Education is itself a complex, ethical enterprise, where engagement with teachers and students requires greater faithfulness, exactitude, and respect on the part of researchers. The need for such engagement, from an ethical standpoint, has been magnified as governments globally implement multilingual initiatives in schools and universities that encourage teachers to harness the growing linguistic and cultural diversity that surrounds them (and of which they are a part). Based on a systematic review of 59 published works between 2016 and 2021, this article discusses the importance of adopting a fidelity-to-participants approach when researching multilingual language teachers. Such an approach has been missing from most studies, yet it would benefit researchers and their participants, as well as policymakers and educators in several ways.publishedVersio
Charting the motivation, self-efficacy beliefs, language learning strategies, and achievement of multilingual university students learning Arabic as a foreign language
No full textAbstract Research on the relationship between students’ language learning motivation (LLM), language learning strategies (LLS), self-efficacy beliefs (SEB), and achievement in non-European languages has been both limited and overwhelmingly cross-sectional, often with little attention paid to their multilingualism. Combining complex dynamic systems and sociocultural perspectives, this article reports on a study that explored changes in the LLM, LLS, and SEB trajectories of two multilingual students taking Arabic at a university in Norway over two semesters, including how these trajectories, alongside their multilingual competence, related to their achievement in the course. Data were gathered through weekly semi-structured interviews and a rating scale-based log that the participants kept of their LLM and SEB, as well as their exam scores over two semesters. The results indicated that, although their LLS remained fairly consistent or grew more diversified, the participants were not completely successful in maintaining or boosting their LLM, SEB, or achievement. However, the use of more varied digital LLS appeared to prevent their LLM and SEB from further weakening. Moreover, participants’ LLM and SEB trajectories were susceptible to changes based on different timescales in that mesogenetic events had a more pronounced effect on one participant while the other was more sensitive to microgenetic events. Finally, despite both participants being multilingual, they were unable to benefit from their multilingual competence past the first semester, indicating that not all manifestations of multilingual competence are useful over time, especially when such competence does not contain a multilingual morphosyntactic awareness component
Learning Arabic in Scandinavia: Motivation, metacognition, and autonomy
No full textRising levels of immigration, especially from the Middle East and North Africa, have led to significant socio-demographic changes and increasing levels of linguistic diversity in Scandinavian countries. In parallel with these developments, a growing number of students in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark have started to learn Arabic at school and university. Learning Arabic presents both challenges and opportunities. For example, it furthers the goal of states to develop multilingual citizens, yet it also tasks educational institutions with designing Arabic courses that reflect the interests and aspirations of their students and provide them with the tools to make sustained progress. In order to accomplish this, it is important to first understand what motivates students to learn Arabic and the extent to which they use self-regulatory strategies to enhance their learning. This article reports on a study that explored the self-regulation and language learning motivation of university students (N = 96) learning Arabic in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. The findings revealed that the Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish participants differed statistically significantly in their motivation to learn Arabic. Statistically significant gender differences were also found with respect to the participants’ self-regulation. The study provides important insights into student metacognition, autonomy, and motivation to learn non-European languages in the Scandinavian context.publishedVersio
“I’m a salesman and my client is China”: Language learning motivation, multicultural attitudes, and multilingualism among university students in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
No full textThe Central Asian republics represent an interesting yet little-studied space for researching the interplay between language learning motivation (LLM), multiculturalism, and multilingualism given their cultural and linguistic diversity and official promotion of multilingualism and positive multicultural attitudes through language learning initiatives in schools and universities. This article reports on a questionnaire study that investigated the LLM of 235 university students in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, including their integrativeness and international posture. The students were learning Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish, with a majority of them learning two or more languages concurrently. The study also explored their views regarding the benefits of being multilingual and the extent to which their level of multilingualism, both formally and natively acquired, affected their multicultural attitudes and levels of prejudice towards outgroups. The findings revealed statistically significant gender differences in how the participants viewed the benefits of being multilingual, as well as statistically significant relationships between their levels of natively acquired multilingualism and their multicultural attitudes and levels of prejudice towards outgroups. International posture and integrativeness, meanwhile, were found to be distinct concepts with little overlap.publishedVersio
