The Role of Negotiation of Meaning in L2 Interactions:An Analysis from the Perspective of Long’s Interaction Hypothesis

This study examines how negotiation of meaning contributes to second language interaction. The discussion  in  this  study  is  based on Michael H. Long’s 1996 Interaction Hypothesis suggesting that environment contributes to the development of second language acquisition. Long proposes that environmental contributions to acquisition are mediated by selective attention and the learner’s processing capacity during negotiation for meaning. To support this belief, recent empirical studies are also presented in this article. Three negotiation for meaning strategies are discussed in this study to mirror and provide evidence  for  Long’s proposal, including several  excerpts from  conversations  collected from daily natural conversations  and other recorded sources. The strategies include (1) clarification requests, (2) confirmation checks, and (3) comprehension checks. The study has been able to prove that learner’s L2 acquisition takes advantage  of environmental contributions mediated by selective attention and the learner’s developing L2 processing capacity brought together during negotiation of meaning

Unifying Constructionist Intercultural Competence through a Complex Systems Perspective

Research on intercultural education very often falls short of its expectations in the ways it strives to correlate different variables affecting the elements of intercultural competence with learning outcomes. In this article, we discuss intercultural competence from a constructionist perspective, where intercultural competence is viewed from a complex systems approach, i.e. its understanding is constructed by learners influenced by context. Thus, our aim is to define shared meanings between intercultural competence and complex systems peculiar to both paradigms. The article first describes the notion of meaning construction in intercultural competence, pointing to the affinities of intercultural competence and complex systems theory. Then, we demonstrate how constructionist intercultural competence and the theory of complex systems can be applied to research in an educational setting

Reflections on globalisation, leadership and pedagogy: Competence-based didactics and Objective based Training.

Numerous research shows us the relationship between the management and process of educational leadership and results in the quality of the educational system internationally at the time of globalisation. That is why we will talk in this article about the commitment that the education system and universities, in particular, have to the constant development and improvement of the quality of teaching and updating of study projects, among others, and above all, of their teachers, as well as what characterises a teacher with leadership and educational leadership in a competitive and globalised system

Influence of causal attributions on Emotional and Behavioral Reactions of care workers towards challenging Behavior among persons with deafblindness

A large quantity of research on Challenging Behavior (CB) has focused on persons with intellectual disabilities. However, individuals with deafblindness also commonly engage in CB. The present study asked 63 staff members of institutions that work with persons with deafblindness in eight countries about their experiences with CB, in which situations CB occurs, and how they react in such situations. Furthermore, we investigated the relationship between staff members’ attributions to CB, i.e. the underlying reasons staff members ascribe to CB, and their emotional reactions. The main finding showed that those persons who endorsed communicative difficulties as underlying reason of CB were more likely to experience fear and anxiety than persons who endorsed other causal attributions. This was interpreted as a result from increased feelings of responsibility for the client. Nevertheless, confidence and comfort were the most common emotional responses. The present study is the first one that provides an overview of attributions and emotions to CB among care workers that work with persons with deafblindness. Influence of CB on care workers has been neglected in this field so far. This study is also the first that considered measuring a communicative attribution to CB next to attributions of behavioral processes, stimulation, environmental, emotional and biomedical explanations