The Adult Foreign Language Learner Some Proposals for Andragogical Language Teaching

oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/1253This paper provides an overview of what it means to explore, from an andragogical approach, the process of foreign language learning and teaching. The relationship between adults and learning experiences is complex and multifaceted. The conceptual categories of multiplicity and diversity of motivations, needs, expectations, and strategies to which the teaching principles of multiplicity and flexibility of methods and techniques can be applied are relevant. Teaching adults requires assuming new roles and adopting novel teaching methods. On a methodological level, language activities must be linked to the needs, interests, and experiences of the adult, provide appropriate language models, vary in the methods, tools, and materials used, and guarantee greater awareness and autonomy

Web 2.0, Language Learning and Intercultural Competence

Whenever a new form of communication appears on the scene, it immediately becomes the object of discussion. This has been going on since the first penny press edition in 1834, whereas today discussions are carried out with reference to the Internet. The stability with which mass-media have faced different criticism can be well understood thanks to the functionalist analysis which considers the media as a social system working within an external system made up of a set of cultural and social conditions. In spite of its complexity, any set of repetitive actions contribute to maintaining or to weakening the stability of the system. We can say that globalization would not have been possible without the media and Web 2.0 may be of remarkable interest for its role in influencing cultural identity. All the past technologies, from electric light to the airplane, took a whole generation to gain ground among people, and Internet has not required such a long time. The impossibility to digest the new modalities of communication offered by the net creates the risk of unexpected contamination. Geographical magazines often show pictures of native Amazonians dressed in their traditional costumes while using computers and mobile phones. Educational uses of Web 2.0 and mobile learning tools have been rapidly expanded over the last few years and a great number of projects have been planned for teaching languages. Mobile learning includes many areas: handheld computers, MP3 players, notebooks and mobile phones. In this paper we shall outline the methodology including selection of web tools, task design, implementation and intercultural communication. The study carried out at the University of Florence shows that learners develop their communication competence while performing entertaining activities which enable them to achieve the desired goals

Una ricerca quali-quantitativa sul Portfolio europeo delle lingue con studenti universitari

This article presents a research study on the European Language Portfolio (ELP) that involved students attending a course in Didactics of Modern Languages at the University of Florence. The main objective of the course was to provide students with practical experiences on ELP with a view to merging ICT with language learning. The research method was based on both qualitative and quantitive aspects assessed through a survey collecting the participants’ views of aims, principles, and pedagogic function. This was intended to guide and support learners in the language learning process, also reporting the functions of ELP to record proficiency in languages

Apprendimento linguistico e ‘Buona Scuola’. Un focus sull’italiano L2

Il contributo si articola in due sezioni distinte ma integrate. La prima parte intende delineare lo scenario nazionale attuale in riferimento all’apprendimento e alla didattica delle lingue straniere alla luce del nuovo documento governativo legge 13 luglio 2015, n. 107, procedendo con una disamina delle più recenti indagini linguistiche pubblicate da autorevoli fonti europee e non tralasciando la sempre più netta affermazione della didattica dell’italiano L2. La seconda parte, invece, intende illustrare nel particolare alcune specificità che connotano l’insegnamento dell’italiano L2, mostrando come la legge 107/2015 crei condizioni favorevoli all’implementazione di pratiche e azioni di facilitazione per l’insegnamento.This contribution consists of two distinct, but integrated, sections. The first part aims to outline the current national scenario with reference to the learning and teaching of foreign languages in the light of the new Italian law of 13 July 2015, n. 107, and explores the most recent linguistic surveys published by authoritative European sources. The increasing achievements of teaching Italian as a second language are taken into account. The second part highlights in detail some peculiarities that characterize the teaching of Italian as a second language, showing how the law 107/2015 may create favorable conditions to implement practices and actions for teaching

Il PEL in chiave inclusiva: biografie linguistiche in rete

The study concerns inclusive language education of young people and adults with a research on the pedagogical function of the Language Biography of the European Language Portfolio. The research study involved students attending a course offered by University of Florence. Among the aims of the course to provide students with practical experiences and metacognitive activities on Language Biography with a view to merging ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) with language learning. The article reports on this experience, using data gathered from student questionnaires, showing the potential of Language Biography as a tool for inclusive teaching and learning and consciously working to foster learning across differences \u2013 of languages, cultures, needs, motivations, experiences, skills \u2013 that characterize each learner

Sviluppare abilit\ue0 e competenze interculturali. Da un modello di competenza comunicativa interculturale a un percorso didattico nella classe plurilingue

A partire da un\u2019esperienza svolta in un corso universitario, il saggio propone un percorso di educazione alla comunicazione interculturale applicabile in contesti glottodidattici diversi, con pi\uf9 tipologie di studenti. Si descrive quindi un percorso su piattaforma Moodle, parallelo alle attivit\ue0 svolte in aula, che ha permesso a persone di diverso background culturale, esperienziale, linguistico di soffermarsi sulla comunicazione in contesto interculturale, di applicare modelli e conoscenze teoriche alla pratica e di sviluppare abilit\ue0 relazionali interculturali

Ricerca e formazione in linguistica educativa: il ruolo delle associazioni di insegnanti di lingue

ANILS, l'associazione italiana degli insegnanti di lingue non native, è stata creata nel 1947, e da 75 anni è attiva in: (a) definire il ruolo delle lingue straniere e seconde nel sistema scolastico italiano, mentre si è passati dal divieto fascista dell'insegnamento delle lingue straniere alla domanda di lingue nell'Europa multilingue, nelle economie globalizzate, negli anni delle migrazioni dai paesi in via di sviluppo verso l'Europa; (b) formazione degli insegnanti di lingue, mediazione tra la ricerca linguistica educativa nel mondo e la sua attuazione nel contesto del sistema scolastico italiano; (c) fornire informazioni e dati sul campo ai linguisti dell'educazione, sia attraverso la sua rivista, Scuola e Lingue Moderne, sia attraverso l'azione di accademici che collaborano con ANILS. Questo numero di EL. LE affronta le tre questioni di cui sopra, concentrando il suo ruolo nell'unire ricerca e pratica