Selecting ELL Textbooks: A Content Analysis of L2 Learning Strategies

Although middle school teachers use a variety of ELL textbooks, many lack effective criteria to critically select materials that represent a wide range of L2 learning strategies. This study analyzed the illustrated and written content of 33 ELL textbooks to determine the range of L2 learning strategies represented. The researchers chose an intentional, convenience sample from each textbook to form the corpus they analyzed. They sought to answer the question: To what extent do middle school ELL texts depict frequency and variation of language learning strategies in illustrations and written texts? To measure the content, the researchers developed a coding instrument to track how frequently each of 15 language learning strategies was portrayed. They concluded that 6 of the 33 textbooks had a good to excellent range of L2 learning strategies in both illustrated and written representation. The study provides recommendations for teachers regarding selection of ELL textbooks appropriate for their students along with a sample coding instrument for their use

Universal Codes from Switching Strategies

We discuss algorithms for combining sequential prediction strategies, a task which can be viewed as a natural generalisation of the concept of universal coding. We describe a graphical language based on Hidden Markov Models for defining prediction strategies, and we provide both existing and new models as examples. The models include efficient, parameterless models for switching between the input strategies over time, including a model for the case where switches tend to occur in clusters, and finally a new model for the scenario where the prediction strategies have a known relationship, and where jumps are typically between strongly related ones. This last model is relevant for coding time series data where parameter drift is expected. As theoretical ontributions we introduce an interpolation construction that is useful in the development and analysis of new algorithms, and we establish a new sophisticated lemma for analysing the individual sequence regret of parameterised models

The challenge of learning to read written English for the profoundly pre-lingually deaf adult

Many adults with profound prelingual deafness have difficulties reading and comprehending written English and this problem may originate from English phonological deficits and/or difficulties connecting sign language with written English. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to investigate the word coding strategies of profoundly deaf adults with a view to identify to what extent they used speech-based and sign-based strategies to process English text. For the gathering of the data participants completed three tasks: (1) a measure examining the use of speech and sign-based word coding during reading (2) a phoneme awareness task (3) and a task assessing skill in applying grapheme-phoneme correspondences. Data was analysed using tests of difference (t-tests and ANOVA) with the findings showing that while the less proficient readers had significantly greater English phonological deficits they reported only a minimal use of supplementary sign language coding strategies. Surprisingly, some of the proficient readers, with good English phonological skills chose to supplement them with some sign-based strategies. The possible reasons and instructional implications for these findings are discussed

Korean language learning demotivation among EFL instructors in South Korea

Studies investigating the motivation of L1 speakers of English to learn the national language of the host society they currently reside in remain rare, despite the exponential growth of such individuals residing in these nations this century. Previous such studies in South Korea have concluded that learning Korean as a second language (L2) is largely perceived as difficult, unnecessary and is therefore accompanied by experiences of demotivation and amotivation (see Gearing & Roger, 2018). However, these studies did not explicitly address demotivation and amotivation when examining experiences that affect the motivation to learn Korean of 14 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instructors working in South Korean university language education centers (LECs). Therefore, this study investigates which learning experiences resulted in the amotivation of participants and how two participants who experienced demotivation employed strategies to remotivate themselves. Coding of semi-structured interviews and optional diaries found that despite intent, most participants displayed symptoms of both amotivation and demotivation. The main implication of this study is that in the absence of perceived necessity, affected individuals with insufficient internal motivation or vision to acquire Korean consequently attribute externally related demotivating experiences to pre-existing or resulting amotivation

Language-Supportive Strategies and their Associations with Child Language Outcomes During Instructional Time

In this dissertation, I conducted a correlational study that examined the frequency of educator-delivered language-supportive strategies during instructional time in public Kindergarten classrooms. Additionally, I explored the association between educators’ use of language-supportive strategies and child language outcomes. To index child language, I assessed a sample of 96 children from 10 different classrooms on standardized measures of expressive and receptive language. I recruited 10 educators to participate in the present study and assessed their use of language-supportive strategies during instructional time in the classroom through transcription and coding of audio recordings. The educators completed demographic forms for themselves as well as their 10 children who participated in the study. Descriptive data revealed educators used close-ended questions most frequently and open-ended questions least frequently during instructional time. The results of the path analyses reported that educators’ use of Scaffoldingwas associated with child language outcomes. This study provides an exploratory analysis of educators’ use of language-supportive strategies and their relation to child language outcomes. I conclude by discussing future research and the implications of these findings for practice and policy

A prefix encoding for a constructed language

This work focuses in the formal and technical analysis of some aspects of a constructed language. As a first part of the work, a possible coding for the language will be studied, emphasizing the pre x coding, for which an extension of the Hu man algorithm from binary to n-ary will be implemented. Because of that in the language we can't know a priori the frequency of use of the words, a study will be done and several strategies will be proposed for an open words system, analyzing previously the existing number of words in current natural languages. As a possible upgrade of the coding, we'll take also a look to the synchronization loss problem, as well as to its solution: the self-synchronization, a t-codes study with the number of possible words for the language, as well as other alternatives. Finally, and from a less formal approach, several applications for the language have been developed: A voice synthesizer, a speech recognition system and a system font for the use of the language in text processors. For each of these applications, the process used for its construction, as well as the problems encountered and still to solve in each will be detailed

The Instructional Strategies that Support Foreign Language Learners and Encourage Student Engagement

This paper examines effective instructional strategies that make foreign language learning more comprehensible and meaningful. It also examines how foreign language teachers can promote student engagement and how lessons can be effectively taught during the limited time of a lesson period. The research was conducted in the northeastern United States, employing a survey for five foreign language teachers, three foreign language class observations in a public high school, two interviews with Japanese students, and self-reflection on my teaching experience in Japan. The data were analyzed through coding and comparative analysis of teaching in the U.S. and in Japan. The results indicate that foreign language teachers can enhance students’ learning through incorporating a variety of materials and activities to keep students interested and motivated with continuous practice, even within a prescriptive school curriculum. This research indicates that foreign language teachers, especially English teachers in Asia, should explore and utilize different types of instructional strategies

Use of Vocabulary Strategies to Aid English Language Learners in a General Education Biology Classroom

The demographics of the typical American classroom continue to present as a more diverse student population with the increase of English Language Learners (ELL) entering public schools. General education teachers on a secondary level are challenged with incorporating academic language instruction into content instruction for ELLs. Many of these teachers seek appropriate instructional strategies to teach ELLs academic language skills related to literacy to comprehend the specific content taught at the secondary level. A deeper understanding of language and skill acquisition within a secondary classroom can help guide future efforts in implementing effective literacy strategies to address ELLs’ academic language needs. This qualitative case study aimed to explore how the implementation of vocabulary strategies in biology general education classrooms improves English Language Learners’ content acquisition. The conceptual framework for this study included Cummins\u27 and Krashen’s theories of second language acquisition. The participants included three general education biology teachers and seven ELLs at a high school in the southeastern area of the United States. Teacher interviews, student focus groups, and classroom observations were utilized to answer the research question. Data were analyzed via open coding to generate the themes. The study findings revealed that implementing visual vocabulary strategies in secondary general education biology classrooms was necessary for the academic language acquisition of ELLs for core content. This study’s findings may positively affect change by informing stakeholders’ efforts in implementing vocabulary strategies to provide academic language instruction to ELLs for success in acquiring core content material in secondary classrooms

Germanic and its network: representing the Germanic languages using median-joining phylogenetic networking.

Master’s Dissertation University of the Witwatersrand Faculty of Humanities School of Literature, Language and Media (SLLM), 2016The two aims of this study are, first, to use lexical items to generate networks which represent relationships between various members of the Germanic language family, and second, to examine the effects of different lexical coding strategies on the placement of language nodes in these networks. This is done using old and modern Germanic languages, as well as items from reconstructed Proto-Germanic. The data was coded using amino acid codes. The median-joining phylogenetic networking program Network has been used to process the data and to generate a series of networks under various conditions. Two semantic conditions were used, a strict and a lax, and three strategies were employed to handle missing data. The generated networks were then compared with each other and also with recognised classifications of the Germanic languages. The results indicated a general three-way division in the family, although there was variation at lower levels of classification. The results also indicated the degree to which choice of lexical item and coding strategy could influence results. The study shows that more research into the utility of such quantitative methods in linguistics is required.GR201

The use of refusal strategies in interlanguage speech act performance of Korean and Norwegian users of English

The present paper describes a contrastive study of interlanguage refusal strategies employed by Korean and Norwegian learners of English as an additional language. The data were collected from multilingual first-year students at an American university in South Korea and in an English-medium program at a Norwegian university by means of an online open discourse completion task and analyzed using the coding categories based on Beebe, Takahashi, and Uliss-Welts (1990), and Salazar Campillo, Safont-Jordà, and Codina Espurz (2009). The data were analyzed to compare the average frequencies of refusal strategies used by the two groups, and the types of direct, indirect, and adjunct strategies that they employed. Independent samples t-tests revealed significant differences in the use of direct and indirect strategies with small effect sizes. The differences in the use of adjunct strategies were not statistically significant, and the effect sizes were negligible. Descriptive statistics of the differences in the types of direct, indirect, and adjunct strategies also revealed interesting patterns. The findings suggest that multilinguals’ pragmatic performance is a complex phenomenon that cannot be explained by the differences in cultural and pragmatic norms of their first language alone