ATTITUDES OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TOWARD MOTHER TONGUE USAGE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

This paper sheds light on the students’ opinions and attitudes about mother tongue (MT) usage in the foreign language (FL) classroom. The purpose of the paper is to determine the students’ perception of MT usage and its impact on FL learning and the acquisition process. This research is a continuation and complements to the research conducted and analyzed in the article published in the international journal “Vospitanie” under the title “Teachers’ perspectives on the prevalence of the mother tongue in foreign language teaching”. For the purposes of this research, a survey was conducted to observe the students’ specific attitudes, i.e, how they actually experience the foreign language teaching process with and without the usage of the mother tongue, to highlight the reasons and factors for its use, to determine whether and how often the mother tongue is used, and whether it facilitates FL learning and content acquisition. The results of this paper conclusively indicate that MT usage is a common practice that is widely accepted by FL learners, respectively used consciously, and planned as an intermediary and auxiliary language. Understanding how the mother tongue can interfere in FL learning and being aware of its influence during classroom activities can significantly enhance the acquisition of a second or third foreign language. The results of this research will help improve the teaching of foreign languages, which will enable easier and more efficient learning and successful acquisition of the foreign language

TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES ON PREVALENCE OF THE MOTHER TONGUE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING

This paper analyzes the role of the mother tongue (MT or L1) in foreign language (FL or L2) teaching process. The purpose of the paper is to determine MT prevalence in foreign language (FL) classroom moreover to explore the degree of MT usage by the teachers and to determine the perception of teachers regarding its use in foreign language teaching, specifically whether MT should be used continuously, partially or not at all within the FL teaching process. For the purpose of this paper and in addition to the theoretical research of professional literature in this area, a survey for teachers has been conducted to determine and explain the role of the mother language (L1) namely whether the mother tongue is generally used in foreign language teaching and acquisition, how often, and in which segments is MT usage mostly prevalent. The results of this paper will contribute to facilitating foreign language teaching process, specifically by perceiving overall teachers’ perspectives on MT role and usage in upper secondary schools, which in turn will enable easier and more efficient learning and successful acquisition of the foreign language

Comparison of 24 h ECG Holter Monitoring with Real-time Long-term ECG Monitoring System using ECGalert Software and Savvy Single-Lead Patch

AIM: The aim of the study was to show non-inferiority of the single-channel ECGalert system to the gold standard (ECG Holter) in the detection of arrhythmias over the total wear time of both devices. METHODS: A prospective study enrolled a total of 165 patients hospitalized at the University Clinic of Cardiology, who underwent simultaneous single-channel ECG recording with ECGAlert system and a conventional 24 h Holter monitor on the 1st day and continued ECGAlert monitoring for few more days, under assignment of the doctor or at the wish of the patient. RESULTS: A total of 165 patients were included in the study, 61.2% male, mean age of 58.4 ± 12.7 years. Mean duration of ECG Holter monitoring was 23.2 ± 0.5 h and mean duration of ECGalert/Savvy monitoring was 64.6 ± 31.2. During the first 24 h of simultaneous ECG monitoring with both methods, no statistically significant difference was found in arrhythmia detection. Over the total wear time of both devices, the ECGalert system detected significantly more AF episodes as compared to Holter (p < 0.000). ECGalert demonstrated significantly lower detection rate of false pauses (0.001). However, false detection of episodes of VT or AF was significantly higher in ECGalert system versus Holter (p < 0.000 and p < 0.000 respectively). Patients were more satisfied with ECGalert system, due to lesser interference in daily activities. CONCLUSION: The ECGalert system demonstrated superiority over traditional Holter monitoring in arrhythmia detection in the total monitoring period, but not in the first 24 h

FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING MOTIVATION IN ACADEMIA

Every individual aiming to learn particular foreign language (FL) is motivated by certain factors such as culture or customs of a country, or due to a personal goal striving to achieve. Motivation is an internal factor that encourages or initiates, organizes, directs and determines the intensity and duration of learning activities, and plays a particularly important role when it comes to learning a foreign language. The paper provides an insight of the foreign language motivation of the higher education academic staff, particularly investigating two types of motivation in learning or improving a foreign language. The instrument used in the research was an adapted version of Attitude/Motivation Test Battery by R. C. Gardner, aimed for speakers of English as a foreign language that is mandatory and the most widely used foreign language in academia. The participants included in this research are academics from several public and private universities in the R. of North Macedonia. According to the results, the study provides analysis of the level of motivation from instrumental and integrative aspects regarding the foreign language learning, which in future might significantly influence on raising the awareness and increasing the motivation about foreign language learning (FLL) as well as on the improving of the language users’ proficiency. Keywords: Academia, foreign language learning, instrumental motivation, integrative motivation, motivatio

Foreign Language Learning Motivation in Academia

Every individual aiming to learn particular foreign language (FL) is motivated by certain factors such as culture or customs of a country, or due to a personal goal striving to achieve. Motivation is an internal factor that encourages or initiates, organizes, directs and determines the intensity and duration of learning activities, and plays a particularly important role when it comes to learning a foreign language. The paper provides an insight of the foreign language motivation of the higher education academic staff, particularly investigating two types of motivation in learning or improving a foreign language. The instrument used in the research was an adapted version of Attitude/Motivation Test Battery by R. C. Gardner, aimed for speakers of English as a foreign language that is mandatory and the most widely used foreign language in academia. The participants included in this research are academics from several public and private universities in the R. of North Macedonia. According to the results, the study provides analysis of the level of motivation from instrumental and integrative aspects regarding the foreign language learning, which in future might significantly influence on raising the awareness and increasing the motivation about foreign language learning (FLL) as well as on the improving of the language users’ proficiency

Стратегии при усвојување на шпански јазик (ј3) кај студенти со англиски јазик (ј2)

Процесот на усвојување на неколку јазици, т.е. многујазичното усвојување или процесот на изучување на трети јазици претставува многу комплексен процес кој ги вклучува стиловите и стратегиите за учење, како и влијанието на мајчиниот јазик и на првиот странски јазик при изучувањето на втор странски јазик. Во овој труд се прави анализа на стратегиите коишто студентите со англиски како прв странски јазик, ги користат при усвојувањето на шпански како втор странски јазик. За потребите на истражувањето беше спроведена анкета како метод за утврдување на стратегиите кои ги користат студентите од Филолошкиот факултет при Универзитетот „Гоце Делчев“– Штип, Република С Македонија

Attitudes of high school students toward mother tongue usage in foreign language classroom

This paper sheds light on the students’ opinions and attitudes about the mother tongue (MT) usage in foreign language (FL) classroom. The purpose of the paper is to determine the students’ perception of the MT usage as well as its impact on the learning and the content acquisition process. This research is a continuation and complementary to the research conducted and analyzed in the article published in the international journal “Vospitanie” under the title “Teachers’ perspectives on prevalence of the mother tongue in foreign language teaching”. As for the purposes of this research, a survey was conducted in order to observe the specific attitudes of the students i.e, how they actually experience the foreign language teaching process with and without the mother tongue usage, to highlight the reasons and factors of its use, to determine whether and how often the mother tongue is used and whether it facilitates the FL learning and the content acquisition. The results of this paper conclusively indicate that the MT usage is a common practice that is widely accepted by FL learners, respectively used consciously and planned as an intermediary and auxiliary language. Understanding how the mother tongue can interfere in FL learning and being conscious of its influence during classroom activities, can significantly enhance the acquisition of a second or third foreign language. The results of this research will help improve teaching foreign languages, which will enable easier and more efficient learning and successful acquisition of the foreign language

Разликата помеѓу Spanglish и Chicano English

Шпанскиот јазик е еден од најзборуваните јазици во светот. Поради фактот што употребата на шпанскиот јазик во Соединетите Американски Држави интензивно се развива и се шири, може да се каже дека тој постепено стекнува статус на неофицијален втор јазик. Постојат различни дијалекти но и јазични варијации, коишто се зборуваат во различни делови од земјата, но ние овде ќе се задржиме на два феномена кои се застапени во САД. Целта на овој труд е да се продискутираат и разјаснат поимите Spanglish и Chicano English т.е. се даваат одговори на прашањата: Што претставуваат тие и која е разликата помеѓу нив? Каде се зборуваат? Кој ги користи? И, кои се нивните главни карактеристики

Affective variables in the foreign language learning process

Emotions significantly affect the process of foreign language teaching and learning. Some of them have a positive impact and facilitate the learning and the ability to memorize, and others have a negative impact and ‘block’ or debilitate the learning process. Native language proficiency, language aptitude, attitudes and beliefs, affective variables, demographic features (age, gender), etc., are already well-established influential factors related to foreign language learning. The authors of this paper actually attempt to scrutinize the affective variables i.e. anxiety, motivation and self-esteem among university students-learners of English and Spanish as foreign languages. The paper presents testing of the Stephen Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis by surveying a group of students in order to determine the presence of anxiety, to evaluate the level of motivation and self-esteem, thus confirming or refuting Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis. According to the obtained results of the aforementioned analysis of both groups of FL students, it is well established that the Affective Filter Hypothesis is partially confirmed

Performance Comparison Between A Simple Full-Duplex Multi-Antenna Relay And A Passive Intelligent Reflecting Surface

In this paper, we propose a single RF-chain multi-antenna full-duplex (FD) relay built with $b$-bit analog phase shifters and passive self-interference cancellation. The hardware complexity of the proposed FD relay with 2-bit quantized analog phase shifters is on the same order as the hardware complexity of a passive intelligent reflecting surface (IRS). Next, assuming only passive self-interference cancellation at the FD relay, we derive the achievable data rate of a system comprised of a source, the proposed FD relay, and a destination. We then compare the achievable data rate of the proposed FD relaying system with the achievable data rate of the same system but with the FD relay replaced by an ideal passive IRS. Our results show that the proposed relaying system with 2-bit quantized analog phase shifters can significantly outperform the IRS-assisted system. Intuitively, the IRS system is in disadvantage since there the total transmit power $P_T$ is used entirely by the source, whereas in the FD relaying system the total power $P_T$ is shared by the source and the FD relay in addition to the noise-cleansing process performed by the decode-and-forwarding at the FD relay