Exploring Trends in Middle School Students\u27 Computational Thinking in the Online Scratch Community: A Pilot Study

Teaching computational thinking has been a focus of recent efforts to broaden the reach of computer science (CS) education for today’s students who live and work in a world that is heavily influenced by computing principles. Computational thinking (CT) essentially means thinking like a computer scientist by using principles and concepts learned in CS as part of our daily lives. Not only is CT essential for the development of computer applications, but it can also be used to support problem solving across all disciplines. Computational thinking involves solving problems by drawing from skills fundamental to CS such as decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithm design. The present study examined how Dr. Scratch, a CT assessment tool, functions as an assessment for computational thinking. This study compared strengths and weaknesses of the CT skills of 360 seventh- and eighth-grade students who were engaged in a Scratch programming environment through the use of Dr. Scratch. The data were collected from a publicly available dataset available on the Scratch website. The Mann-Whitney U analysis revealed that there were specific similarities and differences between the seventh- and eighth-grade CT skills. The findings also highlight affordances and constraints of Dr. Scratch as a CT tool and address the challenges of analyzing Scratch projects from young Scratch learners. Recommendations are offered to researchers and educators about how they might use Scratch data to help improve students’ CT skills

The Design and Evaluation of an Educational Software Development Process for First Year Computing Undergraduates

First year, undergraduate computing students experience a series of well-known challenges when learning how to design and develop software solutions. These challenges, which include a failure to engage effectively with planning solutions prior to implementation ultimately impact upon the students’ competency and their retention beyond the first year of their studies. In the software industry, software development processes systematically guide the development of software solutions through iterations of analysis, design, implementation and testing. Industry-standard processes are, however, unsuitable for novice programmers as they require prior programming knowledge. This study investigates how a researcher-designed educational software development process could be created for novice undergraduate learners, and the impact of this process on their competence in learning how to develop software solutions. Based on an Action Research methodology that ran over three cycles, this research demonstrates how an educational software development methodology (termed FRESH) and its operationalised process (termed CADET which is a concrete implementation of the FRESH methodology), was designed and implemented as an educational tool for enhancing student engagement and competency in software development. Through CADET, students were reframed as software developers who understand the value in planning and developing software solutions, and not as programmers who prematurely try to implement solutions. While there remain opportunities to further enhance the technical sophistication of the process as it is implemented in practice, CADET enabled the software development steps of analysis and design to be explicit elements of developing software solutions, rather than their more typically implicit inclusion in introductory CS courses. The research contributes to the field of computing education by exploring the possibilities of – and by concretely generating – an appropriate scaffolded methodology and process; by illustrating the use of computational thinking and threshold concepts in software development; and by providing a novel evaluation framework (termed AKM-SOLO) to aid in the continuous improvement of educational processes and courses by measuring student learning experiences and competencies

Utilizing educational technology in computer science and programming courses : theory and practice

There is one thing the Computer Science Education researchers seem to agree: programming is a difficult skill to learn. Educational technology can potentially solve a number of difficulties associated with programming and computer science education by automating assessment, providing immediate feedback and by gamifying the learning process. Still, there are two very important issues to solve regarding the use of technology: what tools to use, and how to apply them? In this thesis, I present a model for successfully adapting educational technology to computer science and programming courses. The model is based on several years of studies conducted while developing and utilizing an exercise-based educational tool in various courses. The focus of the model is in improving student performance, measured by two easily quantifiable factors: the pass rate of the course and the average grade obtained from the course. The final model consists of five features that need to be considered in order to adapt technology effectively into a computer science course: active learning and continuous assessment, heterogeneous exercise types, electronic examination, tutorial-based learning, and continuous feedback cycle. Additionally, I recommend that student mentoring is provided and cognitive load of adapting the tools considered when applying the model. The features are classified as core components, supportive components or evaluation components based on their role in the complete model. Based on the results, it seems that adapting the complete model can increase the pass rate statistically significantly and provide higher grades when compared with a “traditional” programming course. The results also indicate that although adapting the model partially can create some improvements to the performance, all features are required for the full effect to take place. Naturally, there are some limits in the model. First, I do not consider it as the only possible model for adapting educational technology into programming or computer science courses. Second, there are various other factors in addition to students’ performance for creating a satisfying learning experience that need to be considered when refactoring courses. Still, the model presented can provide significantly better results, and as such, it works as a base for future improvements in computer science education.Ohjelmoinnin oppimisen vaikeus on yksi harvoja asioita, joista lähes kaikki tietojenkäsittelyn opetuksen tutkijat ovat jokseenkin yksimielisiä. Opetusteknologian avulla on mahdollista ratkaista useita ohjelmoinnin oppimiseen liittyviä ongelmia esimerkiksi hyödyntämällä automaattista arviointia, välitöntä palautetta ja pelillisyyttä. Teknologiaan liittyy kuitenkin kaksi olennaista kysymystä: mitä työkaluja käyttää ja miten ottaa ne kursseilla tehokkaasti käyttöön? Tässä väitöskirjassa esitellään malli opetusteknologian tehokkaaseen hyödyntämiseen tietojenkäsittelyn ja ohjelmoinnin kursseilla. Malli perustuu tehtäväpohjaisen oppimisjärjestelmän runsaan vuosikymmenen pituiseen kehitys- ja tutkimusprosessiin. Mallin painopiste on opiskelijoiden suoriutumisen parantamisessa. Tätä arvioidaan kahdella kvantitatiivisella mittarilla: kurssin läpäisyprosentilla ja arvosanojen keskiarvolla. Malli koostuu viidestä tekijästä, jotka on otettava huomioon tuotaessa opetusteknologiaa ohjelmoinnin kursseille. Näitä ovat aktiivinen oppiminen ja jatkuva arviointi, heterogeeniset tehtävätyypit, sähköinen tentti, tutoriaalipohjainen oppiminen sekä jatkuva palautesykli. Lisäksi opiskelijamentoroinnin järjestäminen kursseilla ja järjestelmän käyttöönottoon liittyvän kognitiivisen kuorman arviointi tukevat mallin käyttöä. Malliin liittyvät tekijät on tässä työssä lajiteltu kolmeen kategoriaan: ydinkomponentteihin, tukikomponentteihin ja arviontiin liittyviin komponentteihin. Tulosten perusteella vaikuttaa siltä, että mallin käyttöönotto parantaa kurssien läpäisyprosenttia tilastollisesti merkittävästi ja nostaa arvosanojen keskiarvoa ”perinteiseen” kurssimalliin verrattuna. Vaikka mallin yksittäistenkin ominaisuuksien käyttöönotto voi sinällään parantaa kurssin tuloksia, väitöskirjaan kuuluvien tutkimusten perusteella näyttää siltä, että parhaat tulokset saavutetaan ottamalla malli käyttöön kokonaisuudessaan. On selvää, että malli ei ratkaise kaikkia opetusteknologian käyttöönottoon liittyviä kysymyksiä. Ensinnäkään esitetyn mallin ei ole tarkoituskaan olla ainoa mahdollinen tapa hyödyntää opetusteknologiaa ohjelmoinnin ja tietojenkäsittelyn kursseilla. Toiseksi tyydyttävään oppimiskokemukseen liittyy opiskelijoiden suoriutumisen lisäksi paljon muitakin tekijöitä, jotka tulee huomioida kurssien uudelleensuunnittelussa. Esitetty malli mahdollistaa kuitenkin merkittävästi parempien tulosten saavuttamisen kursseilla ja tarjoaa sellaisena perustan entistä parempaan opetukseen

Integration of science into mathematics in high school curriculum : a delphi study

Ankara : The Program of Curriculum and Instruction, Bilkent University, 2012.Thesis (Master's) -- Bilkent University, 2012.Includes bibliographical references leaves 55-59.The focus of this study is to examine opinions about the implementation of the curriculum integration of mathematics and science (CIMAS). For this purpose, the study aims to explore possible mathematics topics for CIMAS and reach a consensus about advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of implementation of CIMAS. To achieve the consensus, a Delphi study was conducted with experts with regard to curriculum integration. The experts were university academics and school teachers in Ankara. The research produced a number of key findings: almost each unit in mathematics can be integrated with science; physics seems more feasible for integration with mathematics; CIMAS is perceived to increase student motivation and positive attitudes toward mathematics, to provide meaningful learning anda more effective teaching environment for school teachers. Although CIMAS is not seen to have disadvantages that hinder learning and teaching, the integration has limitations related to curriculum, teachers, and facilities that are obstacles to effective implementation. The main conclusions drawn from this study were that the integration of mathematics and science curriculum is expected to provide advantages and satisfy the psychological, pedagogical, and sociological needs of students. The findings could be valuable for curriculum developers, teachers, and teacher educators.Aktan, TuğbaM.S

Principles of Optical and Electron Microscopy

The aim of this lecture is to provide participants of ETIM-95 with a guide to the techniques and procedures which enable the microstructures of the metals and alloys to completely characterized. In general metals are opaque, lustrous and relatively heavy, easily fabri-cated and shaped, have good mechanical strength and high thermal and electricty conductivity conductivity. All these properties are a consequence of the metallic bond; metal atoms have only a fiw electron in the outer shell which are shared between atoms forming and electron cloud and by coulomb attraction.Changes in the strength of this bond cause differences in optical, electrical, mechanical and thermal properties of various metals and alloys. The simple regular crystalline structures of metals result from this non-specific and nondirectional bond which holds atoms in close packed arrangements so that the pure metals, generally, have one of the face centered cubic (fcc), body centered cubic (bcc) or hexagonal close packed (hcp) structures of the fourteen crystal systems shown in Fig. 1. These crystallographic arrangements give rise to mate-rials of relatively high ductility since they are resis-tant to tensile stresses and less resistant to shearing forces. However the overall mechanical properties of met-als are controlled by "defect" structure within the cryst-allographic arrangement of atoms such as dislocations, point defects, etc. Mechanical and chemical properties can be modified by the addition of alloying elements which are used to advance in a range of commercial materials. In many alloy systems, compositions and heat treatments are selected that produces complex distributions of phases to give the required properties. To understand the response of metals and alloys to static, dynamic and cyclic stresses, various environments and temperatures, it is essential to be able to describe the "total micro-structure". For this it may be necessary to combine a knowledge of the chemical composition, crystal and defect structure, and the proportion and distribution of various phases present. This branch of science dealing with the microstructure of metals and alloys are called metall-ography

Using language learning strategies to develop ab-initio PGCE students' skills in primary modern languages

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of EducationThe announcements concerning the introduction of modern languages in Key Stage Two in England (https://www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/ curriculum/national curriculum2014, [accessed 8 March 2013]), although not a new initiative, have renewed the need to train generalist primary teachers in teaching modern languages. Following an initial announcement of the introduction of the English Baccalaureate, the poor outcomes achieved by England in the European languages survey (COE, 2012) and the news that modern languages would be part of the primary curriculum (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-18531751 [accessed 21 June 2012]) contributed to refreshing the agenda of languages in the country and the role of early second language learning appears to be slowly resurrecting. In order to provide trainee teachers with the skills necessary for teaching young learners modern languages, this study focuses on increasing subject knowledge and pedagogical competence in a short time by developing trainees’ reflective practice, broadly following the tradition of strategy-based instruction (Macaro, 2001; Cohen, 2007; Oxford, 2011), but within a social constructivist understanding of learning using collaboration. The research, which follows a mixed method case study approach, proposes and trials a teaching approach that incorporates language learning strategies in a collaborative manner. The design of a revised strategy-based approach has a three-fold purpose: (i) to enable primary trainee teachers to develop the linguistic skills necessary to teach another language through the use of the linguistic knowledge they already possess in their own mother tongue (Saville-Troike, 2012); (ii) to use self-regulation to build confidence and competence in the target language; and (iii) to enable trainees and pupils to develop their language learning autonomy. Results indicate that, within the case studies reported here, such an approach seemed to be an effective way of learning and teaching another language simultaneously for adults, as it provided ab-initio language learners with a basis for the development of linguistic skills thus increasing their capacity for languages. Whilst there is no claim to generalisation here, the studies indicate that using language learning strategies may create and sustain interest and engagement in the subject—a condition that has been identified as critical to the success of any teaching approach. Whilst the results were positive in terms of developing acceptable levels of linguistic competence in adult learners over a short time, the use of a strategy-based method with children did not prove satisfactory, perhaps because of the high metacognitive demands placed on them when they had not yet developed high level abstract thinking, particularly the amount of prior knowledge needed and the language required to verbalise complex cognitive processes

Impact of Scratch on the achievements of first-year computer science students in programming in some Nigerian polytechnics

To support the advancement of modern civilisation, our institutions of higher learning must produce the right pool of professionals, who can develop innovative software. However, the teaching and learning of the first programming language (CS1) remains a great challenge for most educators and novice computer students. Indicators such as failure and attrition rates, and CS1 student engagement, continue to show that conventional pedagogy does not adequately meet the needs of some beginning CS students. For its ease in introducing novices to programming, Scratch—a visual programming environment following the constructionism philosophy of Seymour Papert—is now employed even in some higher education CS1 classes with mixed evidence of its impact. Scratch captures the constructionist agenda by its slogan: “Imagine, Program, Share.” Therefore, this study explored the impart of using a constructionist Scratch programming pedagogy on higher education CS1 students’ achievements. This study also sought to compare the impacts of the two CS1 modes: the conventional class - involving textual programming language, lectures and labs, and the constructionist Scratch inquiry-based programming class. It further aims to discover if gender, academic level, age, prior programming, and visual artistic abilities moderate the effects of programming pedagogy on students’ achievements. To realize the study’s aims, the study employed a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest nonequivalent groups design, involving four intact CS1 classes of polytechnic students (N = 418) in north-central Nigeria. The investigation was conducted in phases: a pilot (n = 236) and main (n=182) studies lasting two academic sessions, with each study comprising one experimental and one control group. In each session, learning in both modes lasted for six weeks. In both studies, purposive sampling was employed to select institutions, and selected institutions were randomly assigned to treatment groups. Instruments employed included CS1 Student Profile Questionnaire (CSPROQ) and Introductory Programming Achievement Test (IPAT). To strengthen the research design, I employed Coarsened Exact Matching (CEM) algorithm—after conducting a priori power analysis—to generate matched random samples of cases from both studies. Thus, research data employed in the analysis include: from the pilot, 41 cases in each treatment group; from the main study, 42 cases in each treatment group. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to find answers to research questions and test the research hypothesis. Data from both studies satisfied the requirements for statistical tests employed, i.e., t-test and ANCOVA. The alpha level used in testing hypotheses was p = 0.05. The dependent variable is the IPAT post-test score, while the independent variables are treatment, gender, age, academic achievement level, prior programming, and prior visual art. The covariate was the IPAT pretest score. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS version 23. The t-test results from both pilot and main studies indicated that, both programming pedagogies had significant effects on student IPAT scores, although the effect of the constructionist Scratch intervention was higher. Results from the one-way ANCOVA analysis of both pilot and main study data—while controlling for students’ IPAT pretest scores—yielded the same outcome: There was significant main effect of treatment on students’ IPAT posttest scores, although the impact was moderate. Controlling for pre test scores, analysis of the main studies data yielded no significant main effects of: gender, age, academic level, prior programming and prior visual artistic ability. The result from the main study also reveals no interaction effect of treatment, gender, academic level, age, prior programming, and prior artistic ability. While the quality of CS1 students’ performance in each session varies as their IPAT achievements show, yet the results of this research revealed a consistent pattern: Students in the constructionist Scratch class outperformed those in the conventional class, although the impart was moderate. This finding implies college students without prior programming experience can perform better in a class following a constructionist Scratch programming pedagogy. The study recommends the use of Scratch, following a constructionist pedagogy with first-year students in colleges, especially those without prior background in programmingSchool of ComputingPh. D. (Computing Education

Language practices, language ideologies and planning in the cross-border area of Nova Gorica (Slovenia) and Gorizia (Italy) - from case study to models of analysis and planning in European borderlands

2007/2008The thesis discusses language policy in a specific setting, i.e. the cross-border community. It explores the specific characteristics of this sociolinguistic domain by analysing the empirical data of two case studies carried out in the bordering towns of Nova Gorica (Slovenia) and Gorizia (Italy) in the years 2003 and 2005 by the Institute for Ethnic Studies of Ljubljana (Slovenia) and I.S.I.G.-Istituto di Sociologia Internazionale di Gorizia (Italy). The sample of the case studies was composed by 12-14 years old pupils and their parents from three elementary schools, i.e. one Slovene school from Nova Gorica, and one Italian and one Slovene school from Gorizia (the first one mostly attended by the pupils of the Italian majority, the second one mostly attended by the Slovene minority pupils). The cross-border community of Nova Gorica and Gorizia was chosen for its particular features: Despite being marked with several troubled events in the recent history, especially during the period of Fascism, the two bordering towns are deepening their collaboration already from the 1960s onwards, and the cross-border linkages are being further strengthened particularly from the 1990s, along with the process of joining of Slovenia to the European Union. The focus of the analysis is on language policy regarding the neighbouring languages in relation to the process of collaboration between the two town communities. The thesis contains three main parts. In the first part the author presents the theoretical framework, characterised by a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach, spacing e.g. from language policy studies, social psychology to border studies. Special attention is given to the analysis of language related issues in the three recent socio-historical processes, i.e. the processes of nation state formation, globalisation and European integration. In the second part the chosen cross-border area is first analysed from the socio-historical perspective. It is shown how language occupied a central role in defining the ethnic identities of the ethno-linguistic groups in the area; how despite the processes of European integration the issue of language planning in the area was never addressed; and how the process of globalisation brought to the fore the primacy of English as the world lingua franca in language teaching (and language practices to a certain extent) especially among the young generations. For the present situation a separate analysis of the ethnolinguistic vitality of the two bordering communities is made. Language policy is further analysed with the use of the empirical data from the two case studies and the analysis of newspaper articles of two chosen daily newspapers in a seven-year period regarding language planning issues in the context of cross-border collaboration. The approach of separate analysis of the three components of language policy is applied, i.e. analysis of language practices (i.e. the conventional patterns of language use), language ideologies (i.e. sets of beliefs about appropriate language practices), and language planning (deliberate actions to influence language practices and ideologies). At the end of the second part the hypotheses are verified. The main findings are that the language of the neighbouring community is still preserving a higher communication potential than English, although a considerable generational difference is observed in this sense: children tend to use English instead of neighbouring language in cross-border contacts more frequently than their parents do. Slovene as a neighbouring language for the Italian community in Gorizia is known and used both in their own community and in the cross-border contacts by a very little part of this group, although the attitudes towards Slovene seem to have changed in the recent years, probably due to the changed status of Slovenia after its independence and joining to the EU. The Italians seem to be more inclined to accept Slovene as optional subject in the curricula of their schools and the finding is that in this respect the existent language planning is not congruent with the language ideologies. There are also indications that some Italian parents, who consider linguistic and cultural diversity as a value, tend to consider the possibility of enrolling their children in the schools of the Slovene minority in Gorizia more often. The finding of the author is that, similarly as in the precedent historical periods, today too, the Slovene minority is functioning as an important element of integration, offering in this specific moment, characterized by the EU’s efforts to overcome any kind of borders and foster integration, a “natural” multilingual and multicultural context able to promote interculturality in a sense of cooperation, based on mutual recognition, understanding, awareness, and knowledge about the other’s culture and language. On the other hand it was found that the local policy makers are constantly avoiding the issue of eventual language planning in the area, oriented to foster reciprocal knowledge of the bordering languages, and it is the author’s opinion that this is due to the political factors: language as a strong identity marker is still manipulated to a certain extent, on the Italian side of the cross-border area, for political purposes. The attitudes toward the Slovene minority and its language are then transferred also to Slovene as a language of the neighbouring state. In the third part of the thesis the cross-border area is approached as a specific sociolinguistic domain. It appears that although forming one community of communication, due to high level of mutual connections, it is usually composed of more than one symbolic space where language can function as an indicator of diversity. Symbolic components refer to extra-linguistic contents of the society and the author points to the fact that in this context language is regularly used not as a mere communication tool, but also as a distinctive element of the “otherness”, an intentional act of demonstration of symbolic appurtenance. The final chapter also offers some elements that are considered useful for establishing a model of sociolinguistic research and language planning in cross-border areas in the European context. Moreover, these areas are seen as potential privileged settings where to more easily acquire the EU’s goals of multilingualism, preserving in this way language diversity as a precious heritage.XIX Cicl

Language practices, language ideologies and planning in the cross-border area of Nova Gorica (Slovenia) and Gorizia (Italy) - from case study to models of analysis and planning in European borderlands

2007/2008The thesis discusses language policy in a specific setting, i.e. the cross-border community. It explores the specific characteristics of this sociolinguistic domain by analysing the empirical data of two case studies carried out in the bordering towns of Nova Gorica (Slovenia) and Gorizia (Italy) in the years 2003 and 2005 by the Institute for Ethnic Studies of Ljubljana (Slovenia) and I.S.I.G.-Istituto di Sociologia Internazionale di Gorizia (Italy). The sample of the case studies was composed by 12-14 years old pupils and their parents from three elementary schools, i.e. one Slovene school from Nova Gorica, and one Italian and one Slovene school from Gorizia (the first one mostly attended by the pupils of the Italian majority, the second one mostly attended by the Slovene minority pupils). The cross-border community of Nova Gorica and Gorizia was chosen for its particular features: Despite being marked with several troubled events in the recent history, especially during the period of Fascism, the two bordering towns are deepening their collaboration already from the 1960s onwards, and the cross-border linkages are being further strengthened particularly from the 1990s, along with the process of joining of Slovenia to the European Union. The focus of the analysis is on language policy regarding the neighbouring languages in relation to the process of collaboration between the two town communities. The thesis contains three main parts. In the first part the author presents the theoretical framework, characterised by a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach, spacing e.g. from language policy studies, social psychology to border studies. Special attention is given to the analysis of language related issues in the three recent socio-historical processes, i.e. the processes of nation state formation, globalisation and European integration. In the second part the chosen cross-border area is first analysed from the socio-historical perspective. It is shown how language occupied a central role in defining the ethnic identities of the ethno-linguistic groups in the area; how despite the processes of European integration the issue of language planning in the area was never addressed; and how the process of globalisation brought to the fore the primacy of English as the world lingua franca in language teaching (and language practices to a certain extent) especially among the young generations. For the present situation a separate analysis of the ethnolinguistic vitality of the two bordering communities is made. Language policy is further analysed with the use of the empirical data from the two case studies and the analysis of newspaper articles of two chosen daily newspapers in a seven-year period regarding language planning issues in the context of cross-border collaboration. The approach of separate analysis of the three components of language policy is applied, i.e. analysis of language practices (i.e. the conventional patterns of language use), language ideologies (i.e. sets of beliefs about appropriate language practices), and language planning (deliberate actions to influence language practices and ideologies). At the end of the second part the hypotheses are verified. The main findings are that the language of the neighbouring community is still preserving a higher communication potential than English, although a considerable generational difference is observed in this sense: children tend to use English instead of neighbouring language in cross-border contacts more frequently than their parents do. Slovene as a neighbouring language for the Italian community in Gorizia is known and used both in their own community and in the cross-border contacts by a very little part of this group, although the attitudes towards Slovene seem to have changed in the recent years, probably due to the changed status of Slovenia after its independence and joining to the EU. The Italians seem to be more inclined to accept Slovene as optional subject in the curricula of their schools and the finding is that in this respect the existent language planning is not congruent with the language ideologies. There are also indications that some Italian parents, who consider linguistic and cultural diversity as a value, tend to consider the possibility of enrolling their children in the schools of the Slovene minority in Gorizia more often. The finding of the author is that, similarly as in the precedent historical periods, today too, the Slovene minority is functioning as an important element of integration, offering in this specific moment, characterized by the EU’s efforts to overcome any kind of borders and foster integration, a “natural” multilingual and multicultural context able to promote interculturality in a sense of cooperation, based on mutual recognition, understanding, awareness, and knowledge about the other’s culture and language. On the other hand it was found that the local policy makers are constantly avoiding the issue of eventual language planning in the area, oriented to foster reciprocal knowledge of the bordering languages, and it is the author’s opinion that this is due to the political factors: language as a strong identity marker is still manipulated to a certain extent, on the Italian side of the cross-border area, for political purposes. The attitudes toward the Slovene minority and its language are then transferred also to Slovene as a language of the neighbouring state. In the third part of the thesis the cross-border area is approached as a specific sociolinguistic domain. It appears that although forming one community of communication, due to high level of mutual connections, it is usually composed of more than one symbolic space where language can function as an indicator of diversity. Symbolic components refer to extra-linguistic contents of the society and the author points to the fact that in this context language is regularly used not as a mere communication tool, but also as a distinctive element of the “otherness”, an intentional act of demonstration of symbolic appurtenance. The final chapter also offers some elements that are considered useful for establishing a model of sociolinguistic research and language planning in cross-border areas in the European context. Moreover, these areas are seen as potential privileged settings where to more easily acquire the EU’s goals of multilingualism, preserving in this way language diversity as a precious heritage.XIX Cicl