The Listening Center: Centennial History

Prepared for the Centennial of The Ohio State University

Empathy And Second Language Learning 1

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98289/1/j.1467-1770.1972.tb00077.x.pd

Mobile and Accessible Learning for MOOCs

Many modern web-based systems provide a ‘responsive’ design that allows material and services to be accessed on mobile and desktop devices, with the aim of providing ubiquitous access. Besides offering access to learning materials such as podcasts and videos across multiple locations, mobile, wearable and ubiquitous technologies have some additional affordances that may enable new forms of learning on MOOCs. We can divide these into two categories: firstly, context-sensitive features including delivery of content for a specific location, enabling a seamless continuity of learning across settings, and linking people in a location with others in a virtual representation of that place; secondly social learning opportunities to connect people as they move within and across locations, to enable crowd-sourced learning. In this paper we explore these aspects of mobile and accessible learning for MOOCs, drawing on examples from MOOC courses, mobile toolkits, and crowd-sourced learning sites

Investigating explicit and implicit L2 knowledge and learning: Replications of Erlam (2005) and Roehr-Brackin & Tellier (2019)

This paper makes the case for close and approximate replications of Erlam (2005) and a conceptual replication of Roehr-Brackin & Tellier (2019). The two studies recommended for replication are informed by research on explicit and implicit knowledge, learning and teaching. They are ecologically valid classroom studies with either adolescent or child learners as participants and thus worked with as yet relatively underrepresented populations in the field of instructed second language acquisition. Erlam (2005) identified a levelling effect of a particular method of explicit instruction, while Roehr-Brackin & Tellier (2019) showed that language-analytic ability has a role to play even in younger children’s language learning. The researchers’ approaches duly reflect the need to take into account cognitive individual learner differences when working in intact classrooms. As the findings of each of the original studies have potentially profound implications for theory and practice in the field, replication is deemed both timely and desirable. In order to facilitate this endeavour, the key features of the original studies are summarised, and specific proposals on the methodological characteristics of suitable replication studies are put forward

Adaptive Forgetting Curves for Spaced Repetition Language Learning

The forgetting curve has been extensively explored by psychologists, educationalists and cognitive scientists alike. In the context of Intelligent Tutoring Systems, modelling the forgetting curve for each user and knowledge component (e.g. vocabulary word) should enable us to develop optimal revision strategies that counteract memory decay and ensure long-term retention. In this study we explore a variety of forgetting curve models incorporating psychological and linguistic features, and we use these models to predict the probability of word recall by learners of English as a second language. We evaluate the impact of the models and their features using data from an online vocabulary teaching platform and find that word complexity is a highly informative feature which may be successfully learned by a neural network model.Cambridge Assessmen

Developing second language oral ability in foreign language classrooms: the role of the length and focus of instruction and individual differences

The current study aimed to examine how instruction can impact the global, segmental, prosodic, and temporal qualities of second language (L2) oral ability in foreign language (FL) settings (i.e., a few hours of target language input per week). Spontaneous speech was elicited via a timed picture description task from 56 Japanese freshman college students who had studied English through FL instruction from Grades 7 to 12 without any experience abroad. The tokens were rated for global accentedness and then submitted to segmental, prosodic, and temporal analyses. According to statistical analyses, (a) the participants' oral performance widely varied in relation to the length and focus of FL instruction, the frequency of their conversations in the L2, and aptitude; and (b) their diverse proficiency levels were predicted in particular by the amount of extra FL activities inside (i.e., pronunciation training) and outside (i.e., cram school) of high school (but not junior high) classrooms. The results in turn suggest that whereas extensive FL instruction (>875 hr) itself does make some difference in L2 oral ability development, its pedagogical potential can be increased by how students optimize their most immediate FL experience beyond the regular syllabus

Examining the LLAMA aptitude tests

This study assesses the reliability1 of the LLAMA aptitude tests (Meara, 2005). The LLAMA tests were designed as shorter, free, language-neutral tests loosely based on the MLAT tests (Carroll & Sapon, 1959). They contain four sub-components: vocabulary acquisition, sound recognition, sound-symbol correspondence and grammatical inferencing. Granena (2013) and Rogers et al. (2016) provided initial results regarding factors which might influence LLAMA test scores. This paper develops this previous work by examining some of issues raised with a larger cohort and focuses on the following research questions. 1. Are the LLAMA tests language neutral?2. What is the effect of bilingualism on LLAMA test scores?3. What is the effect of age on LLAMA test scores?4. How much variance can background factors account for in the LLAMA test results? Data were collected from 240 participants aged 10–75 for RQ1–3. We found no significant differences in terms of language background (RQ1) but instructed second language learners significantly outperformed monolinguals (RQ2). For RQ3 we found that the younger groups were outperformed by all the other groups. For RQ4, we investigated how much variance in LLAMA test results six individual background factors could explain. We combined data from Rogers et al. (2016) and this study giving 404 participants in total. Using a multiple regression analysis, we found that prior L2 instruction predicted more of the variance (6%) than any other factor. We suggest that when using the LLAMA tests, researchers should consider controlling for language learning experience. This study scrutinises the components of the LLAMA tests with a large set of data. We conclude that the results are robust across a range of individual differences but suggest that different norms may be needed for younger age groups and those who have received prior L2 instruction

Encounters : an, esl, reader

xii, 223 p.; 23 cm