Linguists have become increasingly more aware and active in the field of Language Revitalisation since Michael Krauss’ call to action in 1992. In his article ‘The World’s Languages in Crisis’... Show moreLinguists have become increasingly more aware and active in the field of Language Revitalisation since Michael Krauss’ call to action in 1992. In his article ‘The World’s Languages in Crisis’ Krauss estimated a ninety percent extinction rate for the world’s languages by the year 2100. Changing global and regional economies, as well as increased language contact, have created both external and internal pressures for many minority and indigenous populations to shift to dominant languages (Bradley, 2010). Bradley (2010) argues that the modern situation of globalisation does not lend itself to supporting monolingual situations, but multilingualism doesn’t have to mean indigenous languages are lost. He believes instead that indigenous languages can still be maintained alongside of additional languages in a bilingual or multilingual model, where the indigenous language can still be used in the ways the people choose to use it. With Bradley’s thesis in mind, this paper will explore a ‘translanguaging’ case study trialled at the International School of the Hague from 2011. This multilingual teaching approach will be examined through both theoretical and practical perspectives, demonstrating how domains of L1 language use (minority, indigenous or additional) can be strengthened and preserved within the context of English language instruction Show less
M.H. van Spaandonk, M. McCracken, K. Maes, L. De Wachter, J. Heeren, & D. Speelman ... [et al.] 2017
Communication in English increasingly involves non-native speakers. Such speakers can speak English with different degrees of non-native accentedness. In order to contribute to insights into the... Show moreCommunication in English increasingly involves non-native speakers. Such speakers can speak English with different degrees of non-native accentedness. In order to contribute to insights into the effects that these differences in accentedness can have on listeners, the current study systematically reviews experimental studies into the effects of degrees of foreign accentedness in English. It presents an overview of the L1s of the speakers, nationalities of the listeners, degrees of accent strength tested, dependent variables and outcomes in the studies reviewed. The trend that emerges from the studies included in the review indicates that stronger accents generally have more negative effects on understanding and attitudinal evaluations than weaker accents. Show less
In this paper, the ARC (Awareness-raising, Recognizing, and Constructing) teaching method is outlined. This method is used in German for Specific Purposes (GSP) courses and aims at increasing... Show moreIn this paper, the ARC (Awareness-raising, Recognizing, and Constructing) teaching method is outlined. This method is used in German for Specific Purposes (GSP) courses and aims at increasing second language (L2) learners' (technical) vocabulary, specifically verb + noun collocations. These combinations of verbs and nouns constitute useful building blocks that facilitate language production. The ARC teaching method is based on a combination of awareness-raising activities and production exercises that help learners entrench the collocations in memory. A description is provided of the three phases of the ARC teaching method: Awareness-raising, Recognizing verb + noun collocations in authentic texts, and Constructing sentences. In addition to that, the role of the teacher and the autonomous learning aspect are discussed and some ideas for future research are presented. Show less
The focus of this study is to review some existing explanations for the terms identity and second language acquisition (SLA) in the literature and then addressing the question of how identity could... Show moreThe focus of this study is to review some existing explanations for the terms identity and second language acquisition (SLA) in the literature and then addressing the question of how identity could affect second language teaching Show less
This study deals with one specific aspect of classroom interaction through an additional language: corrective feedback. By drawing on research and theories from bilingual, immersion and... Show moreThis study deals with one specific aspect of classroom interaction through an additional language: corrective feedback. By drawing on research and theories from bilingual, immersion and international contexts the study attempts to chart the grey area between corrective feedback and scaffolding, and to distil results that might be relevant across all contexts. As such, this study examines how subject teachers in an international setting correct language mistakes when interacting with students in the classroom, which types of corrective feedback are used in response to different types of errors, and which language goals can be deduced from the types of corrective feedback used. In order to find the answers to these questions, several lessons given by two international school teachers were observed, transcribed and analysed. The results show that the subject teachers focused mainly on meaning and mostly used recasts, but also used two as yet uncharted types of corrective feedback (‘confirmative’ feedback and corrective feedback in response to non-verbal language) in order to negotiate both meaning and form. Show less
The present study examines crosslinguistic influence (CLI) from L1 and L2s in two groups of multilingual learners of L3 Italian. The two groups share their L1, which is Dutch, and an elementary... Show moreThe present study examines crosslinguistic influence (CLI) from L1 and L2s in two groups of multilingual learners of L3 Italian. The two groups share their L1, which is Dutch, and an elementary proficiency in French and German, but they differ regarding other L2s: one group has high proficiency in English and Spanish, while the other group has low intermediate proficiency in English and no knowledge of Spanish. Earlier research has shown that typological proximity and proficiency level are the most important factors explaining the source of CLI, together with the L2 status factor. The results of our study confirm that learners with the same L1 can behave in a substantially divergent way, when learning an L3, if their linguistic background is different. This is especially true when typologically close L2s in which learners have a high proficiency level, such as Spanish in the present study, are involved. In this paper we will discuss the outcomes of our experiment and highlight didactic consequences Show less
This thesis investigates the ongoing debate about the role of translation in second language teaching. In the past, scholars and teachers alike assumed that translation caused L1 interference, and... Show moreThis thesis investigates the ongoing debate about the role of translation in second language teaching. In the past, scholars and teachers alike assumed that translation caused L1 interference, and therefore slows down and limits a learner’s progress in learning a second or foreign language. More recent research, however, has attempted to counter common conceptions regarding translation’s ineffectiveness as a language-learning and languageteaching tool. The recently developed task-based instruction, as described by Hummel (2014) and Norris (2011), aims at contextualized tasks instead of isolated exercises, which also include translation tasks. In a pilot study I investigated the value of translation tasks when Dutch secondary school students are learning the present perfect in English. Overall, the study showed that using translation tasks enhances the use and understanding of grammatical aspect (i.e. the present perfect), and although there appeared to be a discrepancy between HAVO and VWO scores, both translation groups improved in their use of the present perfect and its context as the study progressed Show less
