![]() ![]() Examinamos ocho textos de nivel elemental, cuatro de español y cuatro de alemán, de uso común en los Estados Unidos en el nivel universitario, y analizamos las actividades que se incluyen en ellos. El objetivo es determinar si los textos que dicen seguir el modelo comunicativo, realmente lo hacen. Este estudio analiza el trato que recibe la gramática en los textos actuales de lengua extranjera. Results indicate that the primary focus of language instruction is still on output and that drills still have a strong presence in the beginner-level classroom. Drills were further subdivided into mechanical, meaningful and communicative. We looked at whether the activity focused on input or output, and whether it represented communicative language practice, or it was simply a drill. We looked at eight introductory foreign language textbooks, four in Spanish and four in German, commonly used in the United States at the university level, and we analyzed the activities included in them. This study analyzes the treatment of grammar in current foreign language textbooks in order to find out whether textbooks that claim to adhere to the tenets of Communicative Language Teaching really do so. The current study also suggested a pedagogical improvement for the programme, based on the data analysis. Beliefs about language learning have not been previously studied in Sweden. The impact of the course content and the textbook selection seems to have affected the beliefs of the students. The findings of the BALLI data analysis indicated the methodological weaknesses of the BALLI statements in that the statements may elicit common sense answers rather than true beliefs, regardless of their context, and that, due to the lack of context, participants could misinterpret statements. Interestingly, most of them did not give detailed responses regarding the purpose of their studies, which may reflect the fact that Swedish tertiary education also plays the role of continuing education and students do not always aim at a degree. The results of the personal background questionnaire showed that the students were traditional students and were ethnically homogenous. In addition, too large an amount of kanji was taught in an attempt to develop the students’ vocabulary in spite of the level of the course, namely CEFR A1. Secondly, the language modules “Reading and grammar”, “Kanji” and “Language proficiency practice” were badly coordinated with each other. The students were not necessarily aiming at a degree in Japanese studies. Firstly, Swedish tertiary education also plays a role in continuing education and the course was offered as a standalone course. The course the sampled students attended was examined according to two different aspects, “the Course structure and course content” and an analysis of the “Textbook used on the course analysis”. The BALLI was also administered, together with a personal background questionnaire. It also contained open-ended questions, a method often employed by many of the studies in this area (Tumposky, 1991 Kitani, 1998). The purpose of this study is to investigate the beliefs regarding language learning held by 26 students taking Term 1 Japanese at a Swedish university during the autumn term of 2005, using a questionnaire, mainly adapted from the BALLI, as the main research instrument. Since then, many researchers have attempted to catalogue beliefs about language learning using BALLI or other instruments (Kuntz, 1996b Wenden, 1999 Barcelos, 2000). In the late 80s, Horwitz (1987) created a research instrument called BALLI (Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory) to identify beliefs about language learning held by students. ![]()
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