Motivation matters in mobile language learning : A brief commentary

In this paper I offer a brief commentary on motivational issues in mobile language learning, drawing on empirical insights from the articles in this special issue

Learning and Games

Part of the Volume on the Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning In this chapter, I argue that good video games recruit good learning and that a game's design is inherently connected to designing good learning for players. I start with a perspective on learning now common in the Learning Sciences that argues that people primarily think and learn through experiences they have had, not through abstract calculations and generalizations. People store these experiences in memory -- and human long-term memory is now viewed as nearly limitless -- and use them to run simulations in their minds to prepare for problem solving in new situations. These simulations help them to form hypotheses about how to proceed in the new situation based on past experiences. The chapter also discusses the conditions experience must meet if it is to be optimal for learning and shows how good video games can deliver such optimal learning experiences. Some of the issues covered include: identity and learning; models and model-based thinking; the control of avatars and "empathy for a complex system"; distributed intelligence and cross-functional teams for learning; motivation, and ownership; emotion in learning; and situated meaning, that is, the ways in which games represent verbal meaning through images, actions, and dialogue, not just other words and definitions

Motivation and emotion in the EFL learning experience of Romanian adolescent students: Two contrasting cases

The aim of this study was to investigate the language learning motivation of two EFL teenage students in Romania and the link between motivation and the emotional dimensions of these adolescents’ learning experiences. While language learning motivation has been widely researched, its relationship with emotion in the learning experience has not been examined in depth thus far. To gain deep insight into this relationship, the present study used various qualitative methods: a written task, multiple semi-structured interviews with the students and their teachers, and prolonged lesson observation. The findings showed that the learners’ motivation and emotions were closely intertwined in their learning experiences in idiosyncratic ways. Mika (pseudonym) experienced the prevalent emotion of love of English and was a highly motivated learner. In her out-of-class learning experience, her motivation was linked to her emotions towards her favorite singer. In her classroom learning experience, her motivation was shaped by her teacher’s encouragement and support. Kate (pseudonym) did not reportedly experience a dominant emotion towards English and had a rather weak motivation. The absence of an expressed dominant emotion towards English was linked to her classroom learning experience before high school, namely to her teacher’s lack of encouragement, which hindered her motivation. By focusing on two contrasting cases of learners, this study has foregrounded the role of the emotional aspects of the language learning experience in shaping motivation, showing how strong positive emotions enhance and sustain motivation and how the lack of such emotions hinders motivation

Purpose, Meaning, and Exploring Vocation in Honors Education

This paper examines the importance of cultivating a sense of vocation in honors education. Through examples of coursework, program initiatives, and advising strategies, authors from across five institutions align the scholarship of vocation with best practices and principles in contemporary honors discourse, defining vocation in the context of higher education and describing how this concept works within honors curricula to enrich student experience and cultivate individual understandings of purpose. By focusing on critical reflection processes, Ignatian pedagogy, and theories of moral development and reasoning, the authors offer different models to advance the thesis that honors educators can and should address personal fulfillment in addition to intellectual talent, and they posit vocational exploration and discernment as tools for extending and deepening their students’ personal sense of meaning in local and global communities

Describing the effect of cultura hispanoamericana course on the Licenciatura en Bilingüismo con Énfasis en Inglés students in terms of interculturality and professional development

Progresivamente, la interculturalidad ha tomado un papel protagónico en la educación bilingüe ya que se ha reconocido que en este tipo procesos, el desarrollo lingüístico va acompañado de una dimensión intercultural. Sin embargo, en la práctica, se ha encontrado cómo varios docentes de lengua no incluyen aspectos culturales en sus clases o, en caso de hacerlo, los incorporan desde una perspectiva superficial y congratulatoria que imposibilita la comprensión crítica de una cultura. Además, una vez se abordan los contenidos culturales, estos tienden a centrarse en la segunda cultura, dejando de lado la oportunidad de los estudiantes de explorar y comprender su cultura profunda, perpetuando así realidades y estructuras injustas del contexto. Esta investigación describe los procesos pedagógicos e interculturales de un contexto educativo caracterizado por su énfasis en la cultura nativa desde una perspectiva descentralizada y profunda. Este estudio, enmarcado en un paradigma descriptivo-cualitativo, se realizó en el curso de una Licenciatura en Bilingüismo con Énfasis en Inglés. Los datos fueron recopilados de observaciones en el aula, cuestionarios al principio y al final del proceso pedagógico y entrevistas semiestructuradas, todo lo cual se analizó utilizando un enfoque de análisis de contenido

On the Optimization of Deep Networks: Implicit Acceleration by Overparameterization

Conventional wisdom in deep learning states that increasing depth improves expressiveness but complicates optimization. This paper suggests that, sometimes, increasing depth can speed up optimization. The effect of depth on optimization is decoupled from expressiveness by focusing on settings where additional layers amount to overparameterization - linear neural networks, a well-studied model. Theoretical analysis, as well as experiments, show that here depth acts as a preconditioner which may accelerate convergence. Even on simple convex problems such as linear regression with $\ell_p$ loss, $p>2$, gradient descent can benefit from transitioning to a non-convex overparameterized objective, more than it would from some common acceleration schemes. We also prove that it is mathematically impossible to obtain the acceleration effect of overparametrization via gradients of any regularizer.Comment: Published at the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) 201