Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: influencia de la L1

Resumen:

Research on pre-task planning to date has mainly focused on task performance. However, the effects of planning are contingent on what learners actually do during planning time. One important factor that may determine the quality and usefulness of planning is whether it is done in the first language (L1) or the second language (L2). This research addresses this issue by investigating the relative benefits of collaborative planning in the L1 and L2 in terms of ideas generated and transferred to an oral problem-solving task. Seventy-two Japanese university EFL learners were randomly assigned to one of two planning conditions: L1P (L1 planning, Japanese) and L2P (L2 planning, English). Dyads in each group were given 10 minutes to plan the content of a problem-solving task in the respective languages before individually performing the...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: lingüística cognitiva

Resumen:

Given the immense potential of cognitive linguistics for second language teaching and the need to produce more robust empirical evidence of its effectiveness for a range of learners in real classrooms, the current study set out to investigate the effectiveness of a novel cognitive linguistics-inspired approach for teaching Spanish prepositions and aspect to novice learners (n = 30). Animated videos, which were created collaboratively with students to ensure their comprehensibility, presented Principled Polysemy Networks for the prepositions por and para and the concept of boundedness for aspect (preterite and imperfect). After presentation, practice, and feedback cycles, learners made significant gains on controlled production tasks and performed as well as more advanced learners recruited in prior studies, suggesting that the...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: enseñanza/aprendizaje de vocabulario

Resumen:

Few mobile-assisted vocabulary learning approaches fully correspond to the authenticity principle of the situated learning theory (SLT). A novel practice of changing the smartphone system language to second language (L2), which intends to better implement SLT in a real smartphone context, is the focus of this study. To explore the potential of using this under-researched approach to facilitate L2 vocabulary learning, a mixed-method design was adopted to investigate its impact on vocabulary acquisition, global language learning motivation, and vocabulary learning motivation. Participants? pre- and post-test scores on the vocabulary knowledge test and motivation questionnaires were compared between the experimental and control groups. Interviews were also conducted to understand learners? perceptions of this novel approach. Both...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: pronunciación

Resumen:

The current study analyzes vowel quality production across the lexical factors of cognate status and timing of word introduction, the linguistic factor of vowel position (pre-tonic, tonic, or post-tonic), and individual factors including age of acquisition of Spanish and length of study abroad. Participants were 29 intermediate second language Spanish learners who completed an oral text reading task. Results found that learners pronounced vowels differently in early as compared to later introduced words and in tonic (stressed) position compared to unstressed (pre-tonic/post-tonic) position. However, cognate status and individual factors were in general not statistically significant. These results lead us to suggest that pronunciation instruction should ideally begin early in the acquisition process and include explanations of vowel...

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Tipo: libro

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: materiales audiovisuales

Resumen:

This book demonstrates the positive impact of using film and audiovisual material in the language classroom. The chapters are evidence-based and address different levels and contexts of learning around the world. They demonstrate the benefits of using moving images and films to develop intercultural awareness and promote multilingualism, and suggest Audiovisual Translation (AVT) activities and projects to enhance language learning. The book will be a valuable continuing professional development resource for language teachers and those involved in curriculum development, as well as bringing the latest research, theory and pedagogical techniques to teacher training courses.

Contenidos
Carmen Herrero and Isabelle Vanderschelden: Introduction

Part I. Film Literacy and Languages

...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: enseñanza/aprendizaje de vocabulario

Resumen:

There is general agreement that speed of lexical access is an essential component for successful communication and fluent language use. In vocabulary acquisition research the majority of studies have focused on the acquisition of the form and meaning of new words but research into the teaching conditions leading to the improvement of speed of lexical access is still scarce. This article reports results of two studies which explored the effectiveness of two vocabulary teaching approaches for the development of speed and automaticity of lexical access by learners of Spanish as a foreign language. Participants in Study 1 were exposed to the target vocabulary in reading passages (incidental approach), while participants in Study 2 were exposed to the target words in explicit vocabulary activities (explicit approach). A pre- and post-...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: fraseología

Resumen:

A growing body of evidence suggests that second or foreign language learners stand a lot to gain from mastering a variety of multiword units, such as idiomatic expressions and collocations. Although most of the research on this formulaic dimension of language and its relevance for language learners has so far dealt with English, there are solid grounds for believing that formulaicity is part and parcel of natural languages in general, and that pedagogues should therefore give due attention to multiword units also in other target languages than English, such as Spanish. Contemporary textbooks for language learning have started to include a focus on lexical phrases generally and on collocations in particular, albeit mostly through decontextualized exercises where learners are required in one way or another to match words that form...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: vocabulario

Resumen:

This study examines the effects of word frequency and typographical enhancement (i.e., words in bold) on the learning of single words in Spanish L2 reading activities in a classroom setting. Learners read a text in which target words appearing in bold occurred one, five or 10 times. A parallel text was also provided in which those same words appeared un-bolded. Students were tested three times on both spelling and meaning of the target words: before, immediately after and two weeks after the reading activity. Results show that: (1) after five or 10 encounters, both spelling and meaning recognition skills increase; (2) words appearing in bold only lead to learning gains at a form recognition level immediately after the test is taken and do not contribute to the acquisition of meaning in the post-test; and (3) there is no interaction...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: pragmática

Resumen:

Este trabajo recoge los primeros resultados del proyecto COSOPRAG Nórdico, un cuestionario de hábitos sociales sobre variación sociopragmática entre la lengua de enseñanza (español) y la nativa (danés, sueco) aplicado a estudiantes de español en Escandinavia. Los datos se comparan con un grupo de control (estudiantes españoles). Analizamos respuestas sobre el comportamiento comunicativo en situaciones de consejos y críticas, lo cual supone un posible riesgo para la imagen social de los interlocutores. Los datos obtenidos se clasifican según criterios pragmalingüísticos y sociopragmáticos y se utilizan para realizar una propuesta didáctica para la enseñanza del español en cuatro unidades: instrucción explícita del profesor sobre aspectos pragmáticos, juegos de roles basados en estudios de caso, discusión sobre los resultados del...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: traducción

Resumen:

Rooted in socio-constructivism, the present article investigates the effects of type of collaborative translation on Spanish L2 development, triangulating data from task performance, learning outcomes, and learners? perceptions. Thirteen dyads of college students participated in a within-subjects repeated-measures experimental study, translating authentic texts in two ways: collaborating from the get-go and after working alone first. Results showed that while participants translated more lexical items accurately when working together from the get-go, both types of collaborative translation propelled similar learning gains in lexis and grammar. Of the two, only lexical learning was retained after one week. Participants, contrary to results, reported a clear preference for working alone first, which they perceived as more conducive to...

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