Online Instructional Personal Environment for Deep Language Learning

This article focuses on the creation of instructional materials that serve as a personal environment for learning a less-commonly-taught language. The study aims to raise awareness of ways in which digital personal learning environments can be used in tandem with more formal learning strategies. The study explores self-regulated language learning within personal environments created for intermediate and advanced Turkish. We reviewed the conceptual background for the approach as well as the project-based learning strategies scaffolded in the online thematic materials. Through a 3-year longitudinal inquiry and semi-structured interviews with eight instructors who implemented the approach in four universities, the authors analyze the impact of personalized learning in developing deeper levels of language apprenticeship. The instructors we interviewed report increased growth in proficiency and accuracy in linguistic and cultural learning, as experienced in their courses through their formative and summative assessments, as well as the realization of most pedagogical goals related to language acquisition in a rich format. In light of the needs for teacher education adapted to new technologies, the paper highlights the difficulties of pedagogy for autonomy

Effectiveness of Deep, Blended Language Learning As Measured By Oral Proficiency and Course Evaluation

This article explores the effectiveness of a newly-launched, technology-rich approach in the classes of a less commonly taught language, Turkish; it is one of the rare studies on the proficiency level of students of Turkish as a foreign language, and it provides valuable feedback on new ways of teaching and learning a second language that might help the development of future strategies in the field. Both proficiency and course evaluation significantly improved with the new, deeper approach compared to control groups. The study is a unique contribution and a real opening to approaches in which students are placed as curriculum builders and the language instructor plays a role of facilitator in the management of rich online resources, blending face-to-face interactions and learning support with online activities

Deep Education

This theoretical essay is to clarify what could be a deeper approach to education and its characteristics. The deep approach is a broad phenomenon that encompasses several domains. It manifest a turning point in the way we reflect on a variety of disciplines such as ecology, economy, engineering, mathematics, cross-cultural communication, psychology, and languages. The trend is influenced by semiotics—the science of meaningful signs—as an overarching discipline, process philosophy and complexity theory to address ontological dualism. The deep approach is an applied trend that is revolutionizing the ways we think about what should be accomplished in Education and Teacher Education, and how it should be done.It defines a move towards deeper conceptions of curricula in any disciplines and towards curriculum interconnectedness

Language Education Policy Unlimited: Global Perspective and Local Practices

This book is a first. Language Education Policy is a new field of study that establishes a cross section between educational policy and language policy studies. It inherits from an abundance of intellectual and methodological traditions while opening new perspectives that focus on the interface between policymaking and its enactment in a classroom or an educational setting. The study of the interface between the macro-policy level of the political stage and the micro-policies of education in practice implies a focus on how policy decisions are translated into regulations that affect the lives of people. 21 authors have contributed to this outstanding volume that situates the stakes in the new field of inquiry with examples in 14 countries. The picture on the cover page of this book represents figuratively what numerous activists with a pitch of humor might think should be a good thing: a young dynamic guy taking the responsibility for repairing the planet and straightening the state of affairs, such that it could bring a form of flourishing and peace. The idealistic view of the possibility for humanity to fix its future is not without problem, though. Firstly, notice the activist on the cover picture is a white male. It is difficult not to recognize that the mayhem the planet is in comes in large part precisely from the worldwide action of a certain type of white male. Any categorization has its limits. Financial globalists may not be that representative of all the white males, and this remark does not imply that non-white might not have collaborated and contributed as well to the disaster we are living around this planet, not to speak of white females. Notwithstanding an in-depth analysis of the picture symbolically may raise doubt as to whether a white male, moreover alone, might be the right person to solve issues that evidently have been perpetrated by people with a similar mindset: fixing the world in a proactive and authoritative fashion, with a smile. This reminds me of two quotes, one from Albert Einstein who suggested that we cannot solve a problem from the level of understanding which created it, meaning a new mindset is in order. The second quote is from Ivan Illich who advised young do-gooders from America not to travel to Mexico to fix local houses and thus destabilize the social ecology of villages, but rather stay home and work within their neighborhoods to improve their own communities. Obviously both Einstein and Illich were white males. Yet the guy on the cover page has a saw to fix the world. He may cut things straight his own way, maybe by the rule of law, which brings us to the topic of this book.https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/tedfacbooks/1004/thumbnail.jp

Language Policy or the Politics of Language: Re-imaging the Role of Language in a Neoliberal Society

This book is designed for a wide audience of readers looking to learn about the ways globalization and neoliberalism affect language policy and education among social and linguistic groups in various corners of the world. In addition to learning about new approaches to studying people’s experiences at the nexus of language and neoliberalism, readers will also learn more about the linguistic rights of relatively understudied communities such as Native Americans in the U.S., Azerbaijanis in Iran, Tatars in Russia, Kurds in Turkey, and Uyghurs in China. Moreover, the audience will find useful perspectives on multilingual and foreign language education in South Korea, China, U.S. and Spain presented through the various lenses, one of which is translanguaging. Finally, readers will be pleasantly surprised by the theoretical and methodological discussions around discursive practices of American immigrant communities with regards to language and neoliberalism. In addition to ruling the market, the expansion of Neoliberalism has proven successful at shifting and shaping people\u27s values. One obvious example is the individual\u27s education path, which has been subject to a variety of external forces in recent decades. With the rise of the nation-states and the spread of English, the right to choose is no longer an option but a necessity for many around the world. Language Policy or the Politics of Language presents diverse experiences of different speech communities around the world to re-visit the changing role of language in the society characterized by neoliberal values. This volume, Language Policy or the Politics of Language: Re-imagining the Role of Language in a Neoliberal Society, illustrates how neoliberal ideals interact with the national values and how those interactions shape people\u27s life trajectories in relation to their language rights and language education experiences. This volume brings together various theoretical approaches to examine a breadth of material found at the nexus of neoliberalism and language, in turn depicting the larger culture of language policy and politics of language. It stands out as a unique source for both educators and learners due to its diverse range of topics, its theoretical and empirical studies, and its interdisciplinary approaches in discussing the role of language in a neoliberal society. Language Policy or the Politics of Language further stands out given its global approach in discussing the subject matter. In addition to discussing the reification of the English language, it introduces to the reader discussions about languages and language communities that have not been carefully observed in other scholarship yet. This volume is timely in that it advances current understanding of the factors that influence the relationship between dominant and minority languages and their speakers in different corners of the world. The volume starts with an introduction that guides the reader through influential ideas produced on the role of language and how they have changed over time. Following this, the volume is divided into four parts which touch upon different aspects of language and their impact on people\u27s lives. Part I shows that in addition to a language\u27s low sociocultural and economic value, the potential threat of a language to national security and unity can be another factor leading to deprivation of linguistic rights. Part II discusses foreign language education policies that tend to create unequal access for minority groups. The chapters in this part present analyses of empirical data and curriculum developments programs in East Asian countries, such as South Korea and China. More empirical data are presented in Part II, which presents three different learning contexts--bilingual education, English as a foreign language, Spanish as a foreign language--through a discussion of language learning experiences of multilinguals in the United States and Spain. This section shows that challenges faced by learners are quite similar despite the ocean separating the two locations. It moves current thought around multilingualism and education forward by employing original theoretical lenses in addressing the subject matter. The final part of this volume discusses the role of language through discursive lenses, where a combination of theoretical and empirical discussions provide a deeper understanding of the power of language and discourse in making a difference in individuals\u27 daily lives. The volume ends with renewed calls to take a bold stand against the impacts of fabricated perceptions such as language status, linguistic hegemony, so-called homogeneity of good language, lingua franca, language wars and linguistic globalization.https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/tedfacbooks/1003/thumbnail.jp

Inclusion des étudiants malentendants dans les classes de langue étrangère : récits d’expériences

Cette étude examine comment des expériences de handicap comme la surdité et la perte de l’audition sont vécues et prennent sens au sein de pratiques éducatives. L’article explore les questions d’équité dans les discours tenus sur les expériences d’apprentissage des étudiants en difficulté auditive de sorte à dégager leurs lignes de force et les rapports de pouvoir inhérents à ce type d’interaction. Les fractures dont souffrent les étudiants malentendants dans leur réalité humaine sont analysées à l’aide de la méthode généalogique de Foucault. Le résultat des analyses témoigne de l’impact d’un discours idéologique et normatif sur les étudiants malentendants, leur attribuant des déficits sur lesquels le silence doit être gardé. Une forme d’exclusion les place dans la catégorie des étudiants qui n’ont aucune chance de réussir. Cette étude peut permettre d’amorcer un dialogue sur ces questions, en mettant en évidence les expériences, les craintes et les soucis des étudiants malentendants pour que les éducateurs et enseignants en tiennent compte et créent des environnements plus favorables et intégrateurs, et plus équitable face à ces étudiants.This study examines how specific experiences of disability (i.e. hearing loss) come into being and how they are articulated within educational practices. It particularly explores issues of social justice and equity regarding the discursive embracement of power relations and situated contextualization of hard-of-hearing students’ learning experiences. Foucault’s genealogical method was drawn on for revealing the fractured human realities which have formed the hard-of hearing students’ learning experiences. The results show of the prevalent governing power reflective of a normative ideological position regarding hard-of-hearing students as deficit learners to be silenced and low achievers to be excluded. This study hopes to play as a starting point to initiate a wide-ranging and provocative dialogue around the issues, concerns, and even fears of the hard of hearing students and educators to provide a more open and holistic environment for the development of effective social justice policies and practices in educational environments