Experimental vs. Non-Experimental Research on Classroom Second Language Learning. Bilingual Education Paper Series, Vol. 5 No. 4 (original) (raw)

A Framework For The Analysis of Second Language Learning In Classrooms

Understanding the process of second language learning and teaching in an international class whose students are normally successful 100% is fundamental because generally the instructor is highly qualified and has strong theoretical foundations. Therefore, this article reports an observation of one of English for Tertiary Studies (ETS) classes in a language center of a university in Australia and collates the findings with the theories in the field of second language acquisition (SLA). The class is taught by an Australian native speaker with classroom teacher lecturer/researcher background, with 6 international students coming from neighboring Asian countries. The data was collected through audio and video recording, and note-taking of the interaction, which was further transcribed for analysis. The data presentation and analysis follow second language acquisition theoretical frameworks, including the role and characteristics of input, output, and interactional devices. The findings show that the teacher has a very facilitative role by providing modified input so the students can follow the lessons easily and by applying interactional devices that stimulate learner production or output. Key words: second language, learning, acquisition, input, interaction, output

Second language learning: Investigating the classroom context

System, 1989

This article reviews a number of L2 classroom-based research projects, undertaken at the University of Stirling, Scotland, in which the author was involved between 1976 and 1986. The main group of projects provide accounts of foreign language teachers' instructional practices during this period, documenting shifts towards a more "communicative" approach to foreign language teaching, but also recording teachers' continuing commitment to structural practice and the continuing use of English as a significant medium for the management of FL classrooms. A variety of research approaches were used in the course of these studies, most notably systematic observation, "functional" analyses of classroom language, and action research; some evaluative comments are made regarding the potential and limitations of these different approaches. A later section of the article records the basic principles used in Stirling-based evaluations of L2 instructional programmes, drawing examples mainly from an evaluation study of bilingual (Gaelic-English) primary education. In conclusion, it is argued that a full understanding of classroom-based L2 learning requires the integration of sociolinguistic studies of the classroom context with psycholinguistic studies of SLA processes.

Second Language Learning and Language Teaching. 4th ed. by COOK, VIVIAN

The Modern Language Journal, 2009

The MLJ reviews books, monographs, computer software, and materials that (a) present results of research in-and methods of-foreign and second language teaching and learning; (b) are devoted to matters of general interest to members of the profession; (c) are intended primarily for use as textbooks or instructional aids in classrooms where foreign and second languages, literatures, and cultures are taught; and (d) convey information from other disciplines that relates directly to foreign and second language teaching and learning. Reviews not solicited by the MLJ can neither be accepted nor returned. Books and materials that are not reviewed in the MLJ cannot be returned to the publisher. Responses should be typed with double spacing and submitted electronically online at our Manuscript Central address: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/mlj THEORY AND PRACTICE COOK, VIVIAN. Second Language Learning and Language Teaching . 4th ed. London: Hodder Arnold, 2008. Pp. xiii, 306. $33.95, paper. ISBN 0-340-95876-6.

A Learning-Teaching View of Second Language Instruction*

Foreign Language Annals, 1979

This article proposes that the current learning processes. The author argues for a teaching-learning view of second language in-teacher role in research on learning processes and struction be replaced by a learning-teaching view. views a teacher's task as twofold: (1) to discover In the former, t h e focus is upon the teaching act, what students do as they perform foreign language which is often imprecisely linked to an undescribed tasks, and (2) to implement procedures in which phenomenon called 'learning;' in the latter view, strategies of skillful students provide a basis for the focus is upon the learning act, and teaching remediation of strategies of unskillful students. procedures are generated by and support specific LANGUAGE TEACHING in the United States has been chiefly concerned with the development of language skills. The research activity of the profession during the past three decades has reflected this focus. From broad methodological comparisons to comparisons of specific aspects of the teaching-learning process, a significant portion of the history of research in language teaching may be characterized as a search for instructional techniques that would lead to skill improvement. The results of this mass of research activity are disappointing. Conflicting findings and nonsignificant results typify much of the effort. Language teachers still do not know which of t h e many available teaching approaches to select or under what circumstances a particular approach would be most useful. Moreover, language *This is a revised and expanded version of a section of the author's doctoral dissertation completed at the Ohio State University in 1977.

Teacher’s Language of Instruction and Student’s Second Language Acquisition

2016

Abstract: In 2006 - 2012 there wa s a new trend at Junior and Senior High Schools in Indonesian to conduct classes labeled an International Class based on the government decree for Educational Quality Enhancement. “Sekolah Menengah Atas Negeri I Jember” executed this regulation by designing “Kelas Rintisan”(a Pioneering Class) where the instruction of English and Science subjects wa s done in English by the expert teachers. The teacher’s language of instruction wa s intended to design an artificial classroom English “ learning environment” which c ould stimulate the students using their English consciously and unconsciously whiles they aimed to understand the content subjects and communicate with teacher and classmates. The communicative interaction m ight happen when language wa s modified to fit the students’ level of difficulty . T hus the students c ould involve actively in using English. Classroom interactions c ould give direct help to students solv e the breakdown in a commu...

Implications of research for second language learning and teaching

International Journal of Educational Research, 1995

The central focus in the research studies contained in this volume is clear: meaning is constructed optimally by the learner through direct experience and through active cognitive learning experiences that take into account and engage the affective domain of the learner. As Horwitz points out in her article, foreign language learning demands a level of personal engagement unlike that of any other subject-matter in academic settings: The essence of foreign language learning is the communication of personally meaningful and conversationally appropriate messages through unfamiliar syntactic, semantic, and phonological systems. Furthermore the second language learner must deal with the stress and ambiguities of communicating within the parameters of an unfamiliar culture.