The development of noun, verb and adjective definitional awareness in Greek preschoolers

The present study empirically investigated the definitions as well as the definitional types chosen by Greek younger and older preschoolers. A definitional task consisting of 16 items (4 concrete nouns, 4 abstract nouns, 4 adjectives and 4 verbs) was used. The aim was to check the ability of Greek preschoolers to provide definitions, to investigate how nouns (concrete vs. abstract), verbs and adjectives compare in definitional style and finally to compare the definitional ability of younger and older preschoolers. Results showed a better performance of both younger and older preschoolers on concrete noun and adjective definitions as well as a clear preference for functional definitions

The Thales project S.I.L.L.G.T: Aims and preliminary results

This paper offers a brief overview of the Thales project S.I.L.L.G.T. focusing on language learning strategy use and reports results from the exploratory study of this project. In terms of the number of subjects involved, this project is probably one of the largest studies on language learning strategy use to date

Profiling strategy use of upper elementary vs. junior secondary minority school children learning English as a second language

The present study, which is the first largescale (N=1584) study with a sample of Minority Schools in Greece, reports on the descriptive statistics of the data collected within the frame of Thales project 379335 entitled “ADJUSTMENT OF S.I.L.L IN GREEK AND TURKISH AND STRATEGIC PROFILING OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL LEARNERS AND TEACHERS-S.I.L.L.G.T” by using the validated for school-aged children (Petrogiannis Gavriilidou 2015) Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) version 7 (Oxford 1990), the most widely used instrument for measuring the frequency of language learning strategies (LLS). In the present study the instrument was implemented in order to identify and define individual LLS used by students of upper elementary and junior secondary Greek schools who learn English as a foreign language. It was found that both upper elementary and junior secondary students use more metacognitive strategies while they rarely employ cognitive strategies. However, the individual strategies used are different among the two age groups. The findings of this study suggest a number of implications for classroom activities promoting language learning strategy use

Adaptation of the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) for students aged 12-15 into Greek: Developing an adaptation protocol

The purpose of the study was to develop an adaptation protocol for Oxford’s Strategy Inventory for Language learning (SILL) from English into Greek to be administered to monolingual/multilingual students aged 12-15 in secondary schools in Thrace, Greece. This study focuses on following the appropriate adaptation protocol in order to maximize the questionnaire reliability and validity, both when used with the particular learners and when used to compare scores across cultures and languages. The original scale was translated into Greek, back-translated and reviewed. Cross-cultural adaptation included the experts’ revision, followed by the instrument administration to 50 participants. Its internal consistency was .91. Test-retest reliability ranged from fair to good for the total scale and its six-subscales

Degree modification and manner adverbs: Greek: poli ‘very’ vs. kala ‘well’

In this study, we discuss the distribution of the degree modifier poli ‘very’ and the degree readings of the manner adverb kala ‘well’ in order to provide cross-linguistic support for the generality of the Kennedy & Mc Nally (2005) typology of scale structure of gradable predicates. We show that poli ‘very’ distributes with open scale predicates. We also show that the degree readings of kala ‘well’ arise when kala combines with incremental predicates, while the manner-quality only reading is produced when kala combines with classic telic verbs

Standardization of an online tool for tracing electronic dictionary users’ strategies

In order to be efficient in understanding and producing texts while improving their vocabulary, good dictionary users should have a number of reference skills (Elola et al. 2008; Fraser 1999; Gavriilidou 2013). Especially digital dictionaries and smart technology require the development of new skills for their successful and efficient use. Since research into skills required for electronic means is very limited, our aim is to create a reliable and valid online tool, the Strategy Inventory for Electronic Dictionary Use (S.I.E.D.U.), for the evaluation of skills users should have for a successful online search. The purpose of this paper is to present the construction steps and characteristics of S.I.E.D.U. and to provide data about the instrument test specification and content validity

Users’ Abilities and Performance in Dictionary Look Up

Abstract and full text of the articles are freely available on www.degruyter.com (De Gruyter Open)

Predictors of language learning strategy promotion by teachers in dual-immersion schools

This paper reports on results of a quantitative study investigating Language Learning Strategies (LLS) that teachers of Greek L2/Turkish L1 in dual-immersion primary schools promote as well as the possible effect of gender, teaching experience and education level on their LLS promotion. The particular schools are separate schools for bilingual children (L1 Turkish/L2 Greek) in Thrace, Greece. Their societal and educational aims are language maintenance, pluralism and enrichment whereas the linguistic aim is bilingualism and biliteracy. However, the students’ Greek language proficiency and their general academic achievement are low. The study was conducted as part of in-service teacher training aiming to provide teachers with teaching methodology on LLS. It examines 102 self-evaluations of the strategies L1 and L2 teachers promote in class. Our findings show that the teachers reported high frequency of strategy promotion. There were significant differences on individual strategies between L1 and L2 teachers. Lastly, gender, teaching experience, and education level appeared to be predictors of LLS promotion

Compilation of an Ancient Greek - Modern Greek online thesaurus for teaching purposes: microstructure and macrostructure

To effectively design online tools and develop sophisticated programs, for the teaching of Ancient Greek language, there is a clear need for lexical resources that provide semantic links with Modern Greek. This paper proposes a microstructure for an online Ancient Greek to Modern Greek thesaurus (AMGthes) that serves educational purposes. The terms of this bilingual thesaurus have been selected from reference Ancient Greek texts, taught and studied during lower and upper secondary education in Greece. The main objective here is to build a semantic map that helps students find relevant and semanti- cally related terms (synonyms and antonyms) in Ancient Greek, and then provide a rich set of suitable translations and definitions in Modern Greek. Designed to be an online resource, the thesaurus is being developed using web technologies, and thus will be available to every school and university student that pursues a degree in digital humanities