Learner Ownership of Learning

Developing learners’ ability to manage their own learning is integral to building language proficiency and requires that learners clearly understand what they are learning and why they are learning it (Little, Dam & Legenhausen, 2017). There is general agreement that autonomous learners accept responsibility and take ownership for their own learning, share in identifying learning goals, actively and positively engage in learning tasks, and reflect on and evaluate their own learning (Holec 1981, Little 1991). When learners are actively engaged in the learning process, motivation is ensured, and temporary challenges and setbacks in language learning can be overcome. This issue of The Language Educator addresses questions such as: What are the key factors in developing ownership in language learning? What does it mean to be an autonomous learner? What are the key principles that undergird autonomous learning? How does a teacher create learner ownership in the language learner? How do we position learners to think about their own learning and make connections inside and outside the classroom to monitor their learning development? Why and how does learner ownership build and sustain motivation in learners to increase language proficiency

The Interplay of Emotion, Cognition, and Learning in the Language Classroom

Challenge Statement Emotions are inextricably linked to our actions, behaviors, and dispositions. To promote deeper learning, emotion and cognition must be in sync to maximize learning. How can we connect our learners’ emotions in ways that fully capitalize on the interplay with cognition and engages them in the language learning process? Abstract This article seeks to broaden the discourse on world language teaching to take a more holistic view of learning and teaching that supports and promotes the integration of feeling and thinking. A summary of the research on the role of emotions in learning is documented and classroom examples are provided that demonstrate ways to integrate emotional learning designed to optimize language learning. When positive emotions are activated, learners allocate more cognitive effort to the learning tasks and display a greater sense of efficacy. By creating a positive, caring classroom climate filled with meaningful and challenging learning tasks, learners can experience a sense of joy of learning

Learner Ownership of Learning

Developing learners’ ability to manage their own learning is integral to building language proficiency and requires that learners clearly understand what they are learning and why they are learning it (Little, Dam & Legenhausen, 2017). There is general agreement that autonomous learners accept responsibility and take ownership for their own learning, share in identifying learning goals, actively and positively engage in learning tasks, and reflect on and evaluate their own learning (Holec 1981, Little 1991). When learners are actively engaged in the learning process, motivation is ensured, and temporary challenges and setbacks in language learning can be overcome. This issue of The Language Educator addresses questions such as: What are the key factors in developing ownership in language learning? What does it mean to be an autonomous learner? What are the key principles that undergird autonomous learning? How does a teacher create learner ownership in the language learner? How do we position learners to think about their own learning and make connections inside and outside the classroom to monitor their learning development? Why and how does learner ownership build and sustain motivation in learners to increase language proficiency

Promoting Learner Engagement through Interactive Digital Tools

Interactive digital tools and virtual learning spaces can be effective in engaging learners with language, content, and culture that promote language proficiency. However, the mere utilization of technology tools does not guarantee learner growth in language proficiency without careful attention to research-informed learning strategies and standards-based instructional design. Learning objectives and language functions drive instruction, and digital learning tools can provide differentiated learning opportunities and learner support that scaffold the learning process. The authors provide a review of the literature on technology integration in world language education as well as examples of popular digital tools designed to facilitate meaningful, interactive communication. Three digital tools, WeChat, iBook Author, and Spark Video, were chosen as exemplars as they provide varied and multiple instructional functions in all three modes of communication

Developing Critical Cultural Awareness in the ELT Classroom

In the current age of globalization, migration, and immigration, integrating interculturality into language instruction is essential in order to prepare language learners to become competent intercultural speakers (Byram, 2020), described as competent communicators (Byram & Zarate, 1996) who engage with complexity and multiple identities and who “avoid the stereotyping which accompanies perceiving someone through a single identity” (Bryam et al., 2002, p. 5). Intercultural speakers are successful not only in communicating information but also in developing human relationships with people of other languages and cultures with whom they live and work. In contrast to monolingual native speakers (NSs), intercultural speakers are able to navigate the intercultural space where communication occurs among speakers of various linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Kramsch (1993, p. 236) defines the space that combines the culture of the target language and the social characteristics of the learner’s environment as a “third place” of intercultural communication. Resonating with this concept, Wilkinson (2020) opines that intercultural speakers can navigate the space between languages and cultures in communication with people of diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Defining intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is challenging, and scholars have offered a variety of definitions. A popular definition is “the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately in intercultural situations based on one’s intercultural knowledge, skills, and attitude” (Deardorff, 2006, p. 247-248). Byram (1997) provided one of the most comprehensive ICC frameworks designed to guide foreign language teachers in integrating language competence (linguistic, sociolinguistic, and discourse competence) and intercultural competence (IC) into language classrooms. His ICC model is a combination of five elements: attitude, knowledge, skills (skills of interpreting and relating; skills of discovery and interaction), and critical cultural awareness (CCA). This paper provides an approach to integrating critical cultural awareness in the language classroom that promotes curiosity, inquiry, and empathy aimed at transforming understanding and behaviour of another culture

Creating a new normal: Language education for all

Challenge: Language educators play a significant role as agents of change both within our classrooms and beyond. How can we position languages and help policy-makers and administrators at the local, state, and national levels to value multilingualism and multiculturalism as an integral and essential part of every learner’s education? What will that “new normal” look like? Abstract: How close are we to the reality of all students having the opportunity to learn another language and gaining support for these efforts from the general public? The answer has a long history, which we point out by referencing articles that span the 50-year history of Foreign Language Annals. From the 1979 President’s Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies report under President Jimmy Carter (Perkins, 1979) to the recent article by Kroll and Dussias (2017) on the benefits of multilingualism, this article tracks ACTFL’s advocacy efforts over the years, including the 2017 launch of the Lead with Languages public awareness campaign and other initiatives such as the Seal of Biliteracy that are rapidly propelling our field closer to a “new normal” in the United States where language education is accessible to all and is viewed as essential to the well-being of all Americans

Promoting Learner Engagement through Interactive Digital Tools

Interactive digital tools and virtual learning spaces can be effective in engaging learners with language, content, and culture that promote language proficiency. However, the mere utilization of technology tools does not guarantee learner growth in language proficiency without careful attention to research-informed learning strategies and standards-based instructional design. Learning objectives and language functions drive instruction, and digital learning tools can provide differentiated learning opportunities and learner support that scaffold the learning process. The authors provide a review of the literature on technology integration in world language education as well as examples of popular digital tools designed to facilitate meaningful, interactive communication. Three digital tools, WeChat, iBook Author, and Spark Video, were chosen as exemplars as they provide varied and multiple instructional functions in all three modes of communication

Children\u27s Books in the Foreign Language Classroom: Acquiring Natural Language in Familiar Contexts

Teachjng literature is teaching language. When teachers are engaged with their students in a piece of !Jterature, a language-rich experience is assured. While much research has promoted the use of authentic texts and literature in the second language classroom (Birckbichler and Muyskens 1980; BredeUa 1985; Kast 1984; Moeller 1992), this practice is often problematic for the beginning-level second language curriculum. Authentic texts such as shorr stories, poems, and noveL J often exceed the comprehensible input of students, resulting in frustration. This article suggests the inclusion and inte-grarion of young children\u27s books in the beginning-leve] foreign language classroom (at all levels-middle school, high school1 and college) as a vehicle for second language acquisition. Arguments for the use of young children\u27s books in language, teaching, and learning are numerous (Power-Miller and Ilubbard 1991; Burler and TuroiU 1987; Harwayne 1992). Children\u27s literarure makes use of natural language in familiar contexts. The familiar contexts of the stories allow the readers to make connections between the new information that the text provides and their own background knowledge. The information in the text includes more than just vocabular-y-it involves syntax, flow of language, intonation, pronunciation, and genre. A children\u27s story is typically short and can be read in one sitting. The affective domain is involved in the reading of a story, in that the student associates the reading of a story with recollections of the past. The experience of being read to a~ a child and the memory of stories told by family and friends set the stage for the positive involvement of tfie reader. These memories lower the affective filter as described by Krashen (1982) and allow for meaningful learning to occur. When anxiety is lowered, a sense of community can be established through the shared experience of reading and listening that optimizes the climate for learning

Creating a new normal: Language education for all

Challenge: Language educators play a significant role as agents of change both within our classrooms and beyond. How can we position languages and help policy-makers and administrators at the local, state, and national levels to value multilingualism and multiculturalism as an integral and essential part of every learner’s education? What will that “new normal” look like? Abstract: How close are we to the reality of all students having the opportunity to learn another language and gaining support for these efforts from the general public? The answer has a long history, which we point out by referencing articles that span the 50-year history of Foreign Language Annals. From the 1979 President’s Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies report under President Jimmy Carter (Perkins, 1979) to the recent article by Kroll and Dussias (2017) on the benefits of multilingualism, this article tracks ACTFL’s advocacy efforts over the years, including the 2017 launch of the Lead with Languages public awareness campaign and other initiatives such as the Seal of Biliteracy that are rapidly propelling our field closer to a “new normal” in the United States where language education is accessible to all and is viewed as essential to the well-being of all Americans

A Pragmatist Perspective on Building Intercultural Communicative Competency: From Theory to Classroom Practice

This article analyzes and synthesizes the major theoretical frameworks for building intercultural communicative competency (ICC) within the domain of the foreign language classroom. Researchers used a pragmatist orientation as a venue for the translation of theoretical models into usable, accessible guidelines for classroom teachers in order to provide a deeper understanding and clarity of ICC and its implementation in the language classroo