Factors impacting on the motivation on Omani students to learn English as an L2.

This study of the motivation to learn English as L2 (as a second/foreign language) provides a local model of L2 motivation which employs a new contextualised perspective. It is based on the socio-cultural backgrounds of the learners and their social relations. This model not only incorporates insights from major debates in the field, but it is also in harmony with recent trends of L2 motivation research. The study had three major objectives. First, it sought to identify the factors that represent Omani students’ motivation to learn English in Oman. Second, it attempted to verify the effects of social relations on motivation. Third, it examined the mechanisms employed by the learners which influence their motivation through personal relations. Since this study views motivation as a complex bundle of constructs, it was more feasible to adopt its most significant factors as determined by the immediate socio-cultural context. Interest and Self-efficacy (SE) were established as the two main constructs representing Omani students’ motivation to learn English as L2. The ‘L2 Motivation Osmosis Model’ was suggested to offer an explanation of the workings of influence on students’ L2 motivation in Oman. This study employed a mixed methodology. A quantitative method was used to confirm the importance of Interest and SE for Omani students. A qualitative study was then designed to further verify this and ascertain the devices employed to influence learners’ motivation. The first question was answered using quantitative and qualitative data. Correlation and Linear Regression statistics were used to verify the importance of Interest and SE. This question was also examined through the students’ depictions of motivated English as L2 learners and the reasons they provided for liking English and why people in Oman learn it. The second question inspected the role of social relations in influencing students’ motivation. The third question studied the devices used by people which influence students’ motivation. The analysis also revealed the importance of the affective dimension expressed through the concept of ‘closeness’, which explains the type and strength of the influence initiated through social relations. This study emphasised the need to consider the socio-cultural context of learners in designing programs and recruiting teachers and the necessity of providing help, encouragement and emotional support. Instead of simply giving recommendations of good practice, the findings of this study provide practitioners with guidelines on how to devise their own plans and guiding principles

The Dawn of the Human-Machine Era: A forecast of new and emerging language technologies.

The 'human-machine era' is coming soon: a time when technology is integrated with our senses, not confined to mobile devices. The hardware will move from our hands into our eyes and ears. Intelligent eyewear and earwear will be able to translate another person's words, and make it look and sound like they were talking to you in your language. Technology will mediate what we see, hear and say, in real time. In addition, we will be having increasingly complex conversations with smart devices. This is not science fiction or marketing hype. These devices are currently in prototype, set for widespread consumer adoption in the coming years. All this will disrupt and transform our use and understanding of language use. Are we ready?A new EU 'COST Action' (https://cost.eu) research network 'Language in the Human-Machine Era' (LITHME), with members from 52 countries, explores how such technological advances are likely to change our everyday communication, and ultimately language itself. As a first major collaborative effort, LITHME has published an open access report 'The Dawn of the Human-Machine Era: A Forecast of New and Emerging Language Technologies': https://doi.org/10.17011/jyx/reports/20210518/1.Accessible to a wide audience, the report brings together insights from specialists in the fields of language technology and linguistic research.The forecast report was authored by 52 researchers, and edited by LITHME's Chair Dave Sayers (University of Jyväskylä, Finland), Vice-Chair Sviatlana Höhn (University of Luxembourg), and the Chair of LITHME's Computational Linguistics working group Rui Sousa Silva (University of Porto, Portugal). It describes the current state and probable futures of various language technologies – for written, spoken, haptic and signed modalities of language.The publication is intended to be both authoritative and accessible, aimed at language and technology professionals but also policymakers and the wider public. It describes how a range of new technologies will soon transform the way we use language, while discussing the software powering these advances behind the scenes, as well as consumer devices like Augmented Reality eyepieces and immersive Virtual Reality spaces. The report also shines a light on critical issues such as inequality of access to technologies, privacy and security, and new forms of deception and crime.It is a result of unique collaboration, as LITHME brings together people from different directions in language research who would not otherwise meet or collaborate. LITHME has eight thematic working groups; and members from each working group have contributed to the report

The Dawn of the Human-Machine Era: A forecast of new and emerging language technologies

New language technologies are coming, thanks to the huge and competing private investment fuelling rapid progress; we can either understand and foresee their effects, or be taken by surprise and spend our time trying to catch up. This report scketches out some transformative new technologies that are likely to fundamentally change our use of language. Some of these may feel unrealistically futuristic or far-fetched, but a central purpose of this report - and the wider LITHME network - is to illustrate that these are mostly just the logical development and maturation of technologies currently in prototype. But will everyone benefit from all these shiny new gadgets? Throughout this report we emphasise a range of groups who will be disadvantaged and issues of inequality. Important issues of security and privacy will accompany new language technologies. A further caution is to re-emphasise the current limitations of AI. Looking ahead, we see many intriguing opportunities and new capabilities, but a range of other uncertainties and inequalities. New devices will enable new ways to talk, to translate, to remember, and to learn. But advances in technology will reproduce existing inequalities among those who cannot afford these devices, among the world’s smaller languages, and especially for sign language. Debates over privacy and security will flare and crackle with every new immersive gadget. We will move together into this curious new world with a mix of excitement and apprehension - reacting, debating, sharing and disagreeing as we always do. Plug in, as the human-machine era dawns

The Dawn of the Human-Machine Era: A forecast of new and emerging language technologies

New language technologies are coming, thanks to the huge and competing private investment fuelling rapid progress; we can either understand and foresee their effects, or be taken by surprise and spend our time trying to catch up. This report scketches out some transformative new technologies that are likely to fundamentally change our use of language. Some of these may feel unrealistically futuristic or far-fetched, but a central purpose of this report - and the wider LITHME network - is to illustrate that these are mostly just the logical development and maturation of technologies currently in prototype. But will everyone benefit from all these shiny new gadgets? Throughout this report we emphasise a range of groups who will be disadvantaged and issues of inequality. Important issues of security and privacy will accompany new language technologies. A further caution is to re-emphasise the current limitations of AI. Looking ahead, we see many intriguing opportunities and new capabilit ...showmor