The IPAD and the Development of Speaking and Writing in the Secondary EFL Classroom

Recent research (Kukulska-Hulme & Viberg, 2018) indicates that mobile technology can support second language learning and educational literacy. The iPad is a mobile device that is having a large distribution in schools and an important impact on second language formal and informal learning. However, studies focused on the use of the iPad to specifically enhance and support second language learning and teaching are still scarce. Against this backdrop, this study sought to investigate learners’ and teachers’ perceptions of mobile learning, the implementation of technology-mediated language tasks and the potential impact of the iPad in developing writing and speaking skills in an English as a foreign language classroom in a secondary school in Italy. The data was collected through classroom observations, interviews, recorded teacher meetings, students’ written assignments, and lesson plans. The data collected has been analysed from a socio-cultural theory perspective. The analysis of written data was also informed by Hallidayan Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), and a Task-based language teaching (TBLT) framework was used to design writing and speaking tasks. Results show a positive influence on student motivation towards the performance of speaking tasks and improvements on technology-mediated second language writing tasks. In addition, the study found that the use of the iPad had a positive impact on the design of speaking and writing tasks for teachers. Moreover this action research study contributes to mobile assisted language learning by providing further understanding of how the iPad can enhance foreign language learning, especially teaching speaking and writing in the context of secondary education, and provides educators with recommendations on how to design specific language tasks

A review of MALL: from categories to implementation. The case of Apple's iPad

The use of mobile devices inside and outside formal settings is often associated to innovative practices in the design of language learning activities. This often implies the reconceptualization of language learning tasks and of the role of the teacher in the mobile classroom. In order to investigate current research and practices in secondary and higher education a review of recent studies in the field of MALL has been undertaken with the main aim of identifying main trends, implementation practices and research gaps.This paper presents a synthesis of the literature by analysing the four different MALL categories, as presented in Pegrum (2014) and selecting a series of case studies and trends that may be implemented in various educational settings with a specific focus on the use of the iPad in second language settings. The review sought to provide a picture of the various options of MALL task-design and recent implementation practices in secondary and higher education using a specific tablet device. General findings show that many studies are more descriptive than innovative and advocate the implementation of larger and long-term research studies on how mobile devices, and the iPad in particular, are impacting language teaching and learning. Keywords: Mobile-assisted language learning, review, iPAD, task design.</p

GLI INIZI DEI CORSI ESTIVI INTERNAZIONALI DI LINGUA E CULTURA ITALIANA A GARGNANO. PRIME INDAGINI NELL’ARCHIVIO STORICO DELL’UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO

Il contributo presenta i primi risultati di un’indagine nell’Archivio storico dell’Università degli Studi di Milano che ha consentito di recuperare e studiare la documentazione relativa ai primi cinque anni di attività dei Corsi internazionali di lingua e cultura italiana di Gargnano. È dal 1956 che presso Palazzo Feltrinelli, sede dell’Università, hanno preso l’avvio i corsi estivi, che sono continuati senza interruzione fino a oggi, con un crescente e riconosciuto prestigio in campo internazionale. L’articolo ripercorre la loro storia: come sono nati e come erano strutturati in quei primi anni. La ricerca d’archivio condotta ha messo in evidenza anche un insieme di materiali utili per determinare la metodologia didattica utilizzata nelle lezioni di italiano dei primi anni dei corsi. L’indagine è proseguita nella Biblioteca di Palazzo Feltrinelli dove si trovano ancora oggi i primi manuali di insegnamento di italiano agli stranieri che risalgono agli anni Quaranta e Cinquanta del Novecento. Nella seconda parte del contributo vengono analizzati alcuni di questi testi.   The beginnings of the International Italian Language and Culture Summer courses in Gargnano. First investigations from the historical archives of the University of Milan The contribution presents the first results of a survey of the Historical Archive of the University of Milan, which made it possible to retrieve and study the documentation relating to the first five years of the International Courses for Italian Language and Culture in Gargnano. In 1956 summer courses began at the Palazzo Feltrinelli, the university’s headquarters, and they have continued without interruption to the present, with growing and recognized international prestige. This article traces the history: how the courses were founded and structured in those early years. The archive research has also highlighted a set of useful materials to determine the teaching methodology used in Italian lessons during the first years of the courses. The investigation continued at the Palazzo Feltrinelli Library, where the first Italian teaching manuals for foreigners dating back to the 1940s and 50s can still be found. In the second part of the paper, some of these texts are analyzed

Default and Control Networks Connectivity Dynamics Track the Stream of Affect at Multiple Timescales

In everyday life, the stream of affect results from the interaction between past experiences, expectations and the unfolding of events. How the brain represents the relationship between time and affect has been hardly explored, as it requires modeling the complexity of everyday life in the laboratory setting. Movies condense into hours a multitude of emotional responses, synchronized across subjects and characterized by temporal dynamics alike real-world experiences. Here, we use time-varying intersubject brain synchronization and real-time behavioral reports to test whether connectivity dynamics track changes in affect during movie watching. The results show that polarity and intensity of experiences relate to the connectivity of the default mode and control networks and converge in the right temporoparietal cortex. We validate these results in two experiments including four independent samples, two movies and alternative analysis workflows. Finally, we reveal chronotopic connectivity maps within the temporoparietal and prefrontal cortex, where adjacent areas preferentially encode affect at specific timescales

Investigating Students' and Teachers' Perceptions of Using the iPad in an Italian English as a Foreign Language Classroom

Recent research indicates that mobile technologies can support second language learning. However, studies focused on the use of the iPad and teaching in schools is still scarce. This study reports on an action research project that investigated the use of the iPad in the English as a foreign language (EFL) context in an Italian school. The study sought to investigate learners' and teachers' perceptions of mobile learning through the use of the iPad. The data was collected through a survey (N=41), classroom observations (N=4), interviews (N=20), and recorded teacher meetings (N=5). Results show a positive impact on student motivation and on the approach to second language learning tasks. We found that within the duration of the study students and teachers became increasingly independent in the use of the iPad for English language learning and teaching. This study provides educators with hints on how to start integrating mobile devices to perform specific language learning/teaching tasks

GLI INIZI DEI CORSI ESTIVI INTERNAZIONALI DI LINGUA E CULTURA ITALIANA A GARGNANO. PRIME INDAGINI NELL’ARCHIVIO STORICO DELL’UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO

Il contributo presenta i primi risultati di un’indagine nell’Archivio storico dell’Università degli Studi di Milano che ha consentito di recuperare e studiare la documentazione relativa ai primi cinque anni di attività dei Corsi internazionali di lingua e cultura italiana di Gargnano. È dal 1956 che presso Palazzo Feltrinelli, sede dell’Università, hanno preso l’avvio i corsi estivi, che sono continuati senza interruzione fino a oggi, con un crescente e riconosciuto prestigio in campo internazionale. L’articolo ripercorre la loro storia: come sono nati e come erano strutturati in quei primi anni. La ricerca d’archivio condotta ha messo in evidenza anche un insieme di materiali utili per determinare la metodologia didattica utilizzata nelle lezioni di italiano dei primi anni dei corsi. L’indagine è proseguita nella Biblioteca di Palazzo Feltrinelli dove si trovano ancora oggi i primi manuali di insegnamento di italiano agli stranieri che risalgono agli anni Quaranta e Cinquanta del Novecento. Nella seconda parte del contributo vengono analizzati alcuni di questi testi.   The beginnings of the International Italian Language and Culture Summer courses in Gargnano. First investigations from the historical archives of the University of Milan  The contribution presents the first results of a survey of the Historical Archive of the University of Milan, which made it possible to retrieve and study the documentation relating to the first five years of the International Courses for Italian Language and Culture in Gargnano. In 1956 summer courses began at the Palazzo Feltrinelli, the university’s headquarters, and they have continued without interruption to the present, with growing and recognized international prestige. This article traces the history: how the courses were founded and structured in those early years. The archive research has also highlighted a set of useful materials to determine the teaching methodology used in Italian lessons during the first years of the courses. The investigation continued at the Palazzo Feltrinelli Library, where the first Italian teaching manuals for foreigners dating back to the 1940s and 50s can still be found. In the second part of the paper, some of these texts are analyzed

E. Ene \u2013 T.A. Upton, Synchronous and asynchronous teacher electronic feedback and learner uptake in ESL composition, \u201dJournal of Second Language Writing\u201d, 41, 2018, pp. 1-13

The paper investigates the quality and effec- tiveness of teacher electronic feedback (TEF) in English as second language writing both in asynchronous and synchronous settings at uni- versity level. Asynchronous TEF was provided as Word comments and track changes on draft papers while synchronous TEF was offered mainly using text chats. The study followed a corpus based mixed-method approach, comple- menting quantitative data with qualitative sur- vey and interview data on learner and teacher perceptions of TEF. In the analysis authors also discuss the link between the use and value of TEF in relation to teachers\u2019 L2 writing pedago- gy. Results show that the combination of syn- chronous and asynchronous TEF has a positive impact on teachers and students\u2019 perceptions and can support second language acquisition writing

Task-Based English Language Teaching in the Digital Age. Perspectives from Secondary Education

This book illustrates the developments of task-based language teaching (TBLT) approaches in relation to the evolution of digital technologies. It highlights how technology-mediated TBLT principles can support English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning and contribute to understanding new classroom dynamics. Drawing from the key theoretical concepts of TBLT, the author discusses the integration of tasks and technologies from a secondary education perspective, which is often under-represented in the TBLT literature. Morgana looks at how the EFL secondary classroom has been recently re-conceptualised as a social place whose boundaries go far behind the traditional school settings. This book provides theoretical approaches and classroom implementation practices by presenting four case studies on the different L2 skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking). The volume is organised into two main sections. The first section focuses on the theoretical approaches to TBLT and highlights the key concepts behind this methodology. This section also looks at the recent development of a technology-mediated TBLT framework and its implementations in various EFL educational contexts. The second section presents four case studies of secondary-school EFL learners in Italy. Each case study focuses on a different language skill, providing examples of classroom practices in both blended and online learning settings. Pedagogical recommendations for teachers are provided at the end of each case study. The book adopts a multimodal approach and aims at providing scholars in applied linguistics and TBLT practitioners with theories and implementation practices to understand the ways technologies are shaping tasks and mediating students' learning processes

Integrating technology and tasks: a language-focused needs analysis for EFL learners

The task-based language teaching (TBLT) approach has become increasingly popular in secondary education around Europe, including Italy, as it is learner-centred and offers students a way to learn English by performing real life tasks. However, the con- stant changes in learning and language use, such as the massive use of technologies inside and outside the lan- guage classroom, is generating new language education needs and therefore new challenges for language teach- ers in response to these developments (Gonz\ue1lez-lloret &amp; Ortega, 2015). This paper looks at how to conduct a language-focused needs analysis (NA) with secondary EFL learners to inform the design and sequencing of English technology-mediated tasks. The example study included an investigation of learners\u2019 language needs, but also of the technological tools needed to perform the tasks and the digital literacies required of teachers and learners