The integration of technology in early education presents new opportunities for second language (L2) acquisition. Grounded in Stephen Krashen’s influential theory, this study investigates the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) based on Krashen’s language acquisition theory to create an optimal learning environment for young children. The primary purpose was to determine the effectiveness of an AI-assisted learning system on the linguistic skills and affective development of preschool-aged L2 learners. This study employed a 24-week, quasi-experimental, mixed-methods design. Sixty children aged 3–6 were assigned to either an experimental group using the AI system or a control group receiving conventional instruction. The AI platform was engineered to provide comprehensible input and real-time feedback within a gamified, low-anxiety setting. Quantitative data were sourced from pre- and post-tests measuring receptive skills, productive skills, and speaking fluency. Qualitative data were gathered through classroom observations, interviews with stakeholders, and teacher focus groups. The results indicate that the experimental group achieved significantly higher gains across all tested language domains compared to the control group. Furthermore, learners using the AI system demonstrated notable improvements in affective factors, reporting higher motivation and engagement alongside lower language anxiety. Qualitative analysis corroborated these findings, revealing increased confidence, enjoyment, and spontaneous language use among children in the experimental group. This study provides strong evidence that a theoretically-grounded AI system can effectively facilitate L2 acquisition in early childhood. By fostering a rich, interactive, and emotionally supportive environment, such technology offers significant implications for designing and implementing advanced language curricula for young learners.
Il contributo si concentra su un aspetto lessicale della lingua accademica italiana parlata di particolare rilievo per gli apprendenti stranieri, ovvero quello delle collocazioni. Difatti, la loro conoscenza e il corretto impiego di tali unità fraseologiche sono indice di un livello avanzato di competenza linguistico-comunicativa del parlante e della sua eventuale appartenenza a un certo gruppo sociale o professionale, come nel caso della comunicazione accademica. Le collocazioni costituiscono un ostacolo anche per apprendenti di livello avanzato, in virtù dell’impredicibilità della combinatoria degli elementi che le compongono, della loro arbitrarietà e convenzionalità. Nonostante il ruolo irrinunciabile delle collocazioni nel percorso acquisizionale, queste possono venire sottostimate nella classe di lingua, spesso a causa di una carenza di materiali e risorse specificatamente dedicati, da cui la necessità di questo studio. Questo descrive i parametri costitutivi e i dati del corpus ASIC (Academic Spoken Italian Corpus), insieme ai risultati di un metodo di estrazione automatica di collocazioni accademiche orali italiane N-ADJ, a partire dai dati di ASIC. L’estrazione automatica degli elementi collocazionali, basata su indici statistici non sembra sufficiente da sola a misurare il grado di associazione che lega i due elementi di una coppia di parole. Occorre effettuare un’analisi a posteriori, basata sull’esperienza e la competenza di parlanti nativi, abituati a comunicare in ambito accademico. Per individuare dunque le collocazioni accademiche realmente attestate, i dati sono stati ulteriormente valutati da un campione di parlanti nativi italiani, coinvolti in un esperimento di crowd sourcing.
Academic spoken italian N-ADJ collocations. A corpus-based study
This paper focuses on a lexical aspect of academic spoken Italian language that is particularly relevant for foreign learners, namely collocations. In fact, knowledge of collocations and the correct use of such phraseological units are predictive of an advanced level of linguistic-communicative competence of the speaker and of his/her belonging to a certain social or professional group, as in the case of academic communication. Collocations are also a hurdle for advanced learners, by virtue of the unpredictability of the combination of their elements, of their arbitrariness and conventionality. Despite the essential role of collocations in the acquisition process, they seem to be marginalised in the language classroom, often due to a lack of specific materials and resources, hence the need for this study. This latter describes the constitutive parameters and data of the ASIC corpus (Academic Spoken Italian Corpus), together with the results of an automatic extraction method of oral Italian academic collocations N-ADJ, starting from the ASIC data. The automatic extraction of collocational elements, based on statistical indices, does not seem to be sufficient by itself to measure the degree of association that links the two elements of a word pair. A further a posteriori analysis was necessary for this purpose, based on the experience and expertise of native speakers, who were familiar with the academic communicative context. Therefore, to identify the academic collocations actually attested, the data were further evaluated by a sample of native Italian speakers, involved in a crowd sourcing experiment.
This paper explores the autonomy development in the language learning trajectories of two English major students within the complexity paradigm (Larsen-Freeman, 1997, 2017; Larsen-Freeman & Cameron, 2008). Autonomy is viewed as a complex, evolving phenomenon shaped by life experiences, including setbacks, stability, and progress. The Complex Dynamic Model of Autonomy Development (Borges, 2022) guided this four-year longitudinal study conducted at a university in Northern Brazil. This multiple case study utilized learning narratives, diaries, and a final interview to generate data. Learning narratives depicted the participants’ profile and their learning initial conditions, while diaries captured their reflections on language learning and autonomy. An interview was conducted in the final semester to shed light on how autonomy influenced students’ empowerment and participation in the academic and professional community (Borges, 2019; Murray, 2017; Nicolaides, 2017; Oxford, 2003). The results show that the personalized and complex nature of autonomy development is manifested differently for each student in varying contexts over time. Subsystems like motivation, beliefs, identities, and emotions were found to either enhance or inhibit autonomy along their language learning journeys.
Meienberg, Andrea, Brodmann Maeder, Monika, Bauer, Werner
et al.
Background: Competency Based Medical Education (CBME) is a global movement in graduate medical training but implementation on a national scale is challenging. One crucial element of fostering CBME is to establish faculty development. We report the design of a national program, the process of implementation, and the results of the first two years.Methods: Following Kern’s cycle of curriculum development, a group of medical education experts designed a training program covering the basic skills for teaching in clinical settings. In addition, we outlined a qualification pathway for future educators in the program.Results: The program was built upon 1-day-workshops with the topics: “clinical teaching”, “feedback and assessment”, “clinical leadership”, “supporting trainees in difficulties”. More than 30 workshops were delivered in two language regions to more than 500 clinical teachers. The median rating whether participants’ expectations were met was 9 (of 10 points, IQR 8-9). The qualification pathway for future educators in the program included a nomination, a 2.5-day introductory workshop, shadowing of workshops, and stepwise acquisition of workshop parts as an educator candidate.Discussion: This faculty development program was well attended and well-received. Using Kern’s established model for the design process including an extensive needs assessment helped to serve the goals of the program. Developing future educators for expanding this program proved resource intensive.Conclusion: Implementing a national faculty development program was successful based on a rigorous design process, a highly motivated expert team, and learning content tailored to the needs of the audience. Effects on the implementation of CBME still need to be evaluated.
Abstract In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the role of emotional and motivational intelligence in educational settings. Studies have shown that these factors can significantly impact students' academic performance. However, little attention has been given to the influence of emotional and motivational intelligence on writing performance, especially in relation to gender differences. This study aims to examine the relationship between emotional and motivational intelligence and writing performance among Ethiopian high school learners, while considering potential variations based on gender. To achieve this, a sample of 176 Ethiopian high school learners (69 male and 107 female, aged between 17 and 24) was selected using a stratified random sampling technique. The participants completed self-reported questionnaires to assess their emotional and motivational intelligence, and their writing performance was evaluated based on a set of predetermined writing rubrics. The collected data was analyzed using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Pearson's correlation coefficient, and path coefficients to determine any significant relationships or gender differences. The results showed a statistically significant relationship between emotional intelligence dimensions and writing performance. However, there was no statistically significant difference in writing performance and writing motivation based on gender. These findings provide valuable insights into the influence of emotional and motivational intelligence on writing performance among Ethiopian high school learners. Emotional intelligence, including the ability to understand and manage one's own and others' emotions, positively affected writing performance. This study contributes to the existing literature on the role of emotional and motivational intelligence in educational settings, specifically focusing on writing performance among Ethiopian high school learners. Overall, this research sheds light on the importance of considering emotional and motivational factors in educational practices to foster improved academic outcomes.
Special aspects of education, Language acquisition
This study aimed to investigate the innovations in speech development of Persian speaking children based on naturalistic paradigms of child language research. To this end, following a longitudinal observation approach, the naturalistic and experimental aspects of child language acquisition were examined as it was considered to have the advantage of producing spontaneous natural data. The data consisted of utterances by a number of children at an age range of 1;10 to 4;10 since it is considered a productive period for the creation of new words. The participants of the study included the researcher's own son, his brother-in-law's son, his niece and nephew, his neighbors' children, as well as a few children from a child-care center in Noshahr, Iran. To investigate the innovations in speech development of these children, instances of deletion, substitution, and inversion as well as creative processes such as making negative verbs, innovative rule-making in the utterances, and rule-overgeneralizing for inserting inflections were collected and recorded. The findings of this study chiefly support Clark's (1981) argument that creativity in children's speech results from the need of finding an acceptable word to fill a gap in the lexicon. Moreover, the findings confirm Lust’s (2006) claim that children rely on their creative theory construction as a compensatory tool and productive device to create new words. Alternatively, the innovations that do not conform to the adult forms indicate that children have not learned the exceptions to the rules and less productive inflections conveying the same meaning; or may tend to convey the message from their own perspectives and to encode the events accordingly. The small sample used was a limitation of this study, nonetheless to arrive at broader generalizations, more supporting evidence from conducting studies on children’s differences, their social interaction with others, and the role of linguistic input are recommended.
Special aspects of education, Language acquisition
Die Bhakti Wardoyo Putro, Sudartomo Macaryus, Desy Rufaidah
et al.
Acquisition in toddlerhood is undoubtedly different. This is influenced by various factors such as environment, age, stimulation, and the maturity of the speech apparatus. Toddler language acquisition can be seen from the pronunciation of the words used. Children still cannot pronounce /s/or/r/, but some toddlers are already mastering it. In addition, at this age, some toddlers can convey messages pragmatically. Therefore, this study aims to describe children's phonological acquisition in the pre-operational period and children's politeness speech acts in the pre-operational period. This research is a descriptive qualitative research with a Psychopragmatic approach. The data source is pre-operational children or 3-4 years old. The data in this study are words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. Data collection is done by using the observation method with a note-taking technique. This method is realized by using advanced techniques like free listening techniques. This study showed that language acquisition in pre-operational children is in the form of sound changes /l/ to /n/ and /y/ and/s/ to /c/. The acquisition of pragmatics in children focuses on the types of politeness speech acts and the strategies used. The benefit of this study is to provide readers with an understanding that the phonological mastery of children aged 3-4 years is different and unique. In addition, children can reasonably convey speech acts
Muhammad Ilham, Fadhlur Rahman, Dwhy Dinda Sari
et al.
Purpose – The primary objective of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of multimedia tools in augmenting English vocabulary enrichment in preschool environments. This study was driven by the need to explore innovative approaches in early childhood language education and assess these tools' impact in enhancing learning experiences.
Design/methods/approach – Adopting a mixed-methods approach, the study, conducted in two North Aceh preschools, evaluated multimedia integration in teaching and its impact on student outcomes, motivation, and engagement. It combined observations, document analysis, interviews, and tests, employing qualitative (educator interviews) and quantitative (vocabulary pre-and post-tests) data collection methods.
Findings – The findings significantly improved students' vocabulary acquisition and active participation. Using multimedia tools in teaching and incredibly interactive PowerPoint presentations led to enhanced engagement and effectiveness in learning. Students showed marked improvements in self-confidence and language skills. The study also observed that multimedia integration fostered collaborative learning and increased technological proficiency among students.
Research implications/limitations – These findings imply a potential paradigm shift in early childhood language education, suggesting incorporating multimedia tools for more engaging and compelling learning experiences. The study's limitations include its focus on specific preschool environments and the potential challenge of replicating the approach in resource-limited settings. Further research is needed to assess the approach's applicability in diverse educational contexts and its long-term impacts.
Originality/value – This study offers novel insights into the application of multimedia tools in early childhood language education. It highlights how innovative teaching methods can significantly improve vocabulary skills and educational outcomes. These findings suggest impactful changes in teaching practices and pave the way for future research and potential shifts in educational policies.
Paper Type Research paper
Tiaoyuan Mao, Nicoletta Biondo, Nicoletta Biondo
et al.
IntroductionWhile phi-agreement and concord are suggested to differ in nature during the first language (L1) acquisition, the acquisition of adverb-verb TC and SV person/number agreement by Chinese Spanish second language (L2) learners has only received limited attention. The current study examined morphosyntactic processing by advanced Chinese Spanish L2 learners (L2ers), whose L1 lacks the explicit morphological marking of tense and phi-agreement.MethodChinese Spanish L2ers and native Spanish speakers were asked to complete a self-paced grammaticality judgment task, where the grammaticality of adverb-verb TC and SV person/number agreement as well as the adverb/subject-verb distance were manipulated.ResultsFor both native Spanish speakers and L2ers, SV agreement violations are detected earlier and judged more accurately than adverb-verb TC violations. Furthermore, L2ers process SV number agreement less efficiently than SV person agreement (but as efficiently as adverb-verb TC). And there is no influence of the adverb/subject-verb distance on the processing of verbal inflection.ConclusionsThis study suggests that advanced Chinese Spanish L2ers tend to use native-like cognitive mechanisms for phi-agreement and concord computations, though their sensitivity to agreement violations may be further influenced by the morphosyntactic feature involved.
This study adopts the Speech Learning Model to investigate the first language (L1) influence as well as the effects of the length of residence and second language (L2) exposure on American English-speaking learners of Turkish in their productions of Turkish unrounded–rounded vowel pairs, with a particular focus on the vowel categories “new” to American English speakers (/y/, /œ/, and /ɯ/). L1 (English) and L2 (Turkish) speech samples were collected from 18 non-governmental organisation (NGO) workers. L2 experience was defined by whether the worker lived in an urban or regional environment in Turkey. Participants’ audio productions of the word list in L1 and L2 were segmented and annotated for succeeding acoustic analyses. The results show an interesting front–back variability in the realisations of the three vowels, including further back variants of the front vowels (/y/, /œ/) and more forward variants of the /ɯ/ vowel, with a substantial degree of interspeaker variability. While the analysis revealed no significant results for the length of residence, language experience was found to have a significant effect on the production of /y/ (F2) and /ɯ/ (F1/F2). This study forms a first step into the research of adult L2 acquisition in Turkish with a focus on L2 in the naturalistic workplace environment, rather than instructed settings. The findings of this study will contribute to the development of teaching materials for NGO workers learning Turkish as their L2.
In an effort to upgrade and provide a unified and improved instrument control and data acquisition system for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) instrument suite—biological small-angle neutron scattering instrument (Bio-SANS), the extended q-range small-angle neutron scattering diffractometer (EQ-SANS), the general-purpose small-angle neutron scattering diffractometer (GP-SANS)—beamline scientists and developers teamed up and worked closely together to design and develop a new system. We began with an in-depth analysis of user needs and requirements, covering all perspectives of control and data acquisition based on previous usage data and user feedback. Our design and implementation were guided by the principles from the latest user experience and design research and based on effective practices from our previous projects. In this article, we share details of our design process as well as prominent features of the new instrument control and data acquisition system. The new system provides a sophisticated Q-Range Planner to help scientists and users plan and execute instrument configurations easily and efficiently. The system also provides different user operation interfaces, such as wizard-type tool Panel Scan, a Scripting Tool based on Python Language, and Table Scan, all of which are tailored to different user needs. The new system further captures all the metadata to enable post-experiment data reduction and possibly automatic reduction and provides users with enhanced live displays and additional feedback at the run time. We hope our results will serve as a good example for developing a user-friendly instrument control and data acquisition system at large user facilities.
Can methods of supervised learning help to evaluate the degree of acquisition of a contrast in a second language? This article addresses the issue of assessing the realizations of /ɪ/ and /iː/ by French learners of English in spontaneous conversations by considering it as a classification problem, which the resort to the k-nearest neighbours algorithm (k-NN) can solve. From a longitudinal corpus of 12 speakers recorded at the university of Paris Diderot over two years, it is shown that in spite of gaps in the numbers of occurrences of tokens for each category, and in spite of the impossibility to use cross-validation, the k-NN method is a reliable means to account for the quality of learners’ vocalic realizations.
In the tradition of the generative school of thought in linguistics, the Universal Grammar (UG) is in the forefront in shifting linguistics from behavioral to cognitive science making linguistics an integral part of the study of cognition (Bocckx 2008:6-9). The study of linguistic theory focuses on the knowledge of language and the acquisition thereof. Hence, language theory becomes inseparable from the theory of language acquisition. With linguistlc competence that a native speaker (NS) possesses, the tacit knowledge embedded in the cognitive system of the NS is necessary to be studied for the characterization and the discovery of the linguistic properties within the premises of UG. The study of the internalized linguistic system of NS bears obvious implications in the description and analysis of a particular linguistic system. By usingthe Minimalist Program, this paper deals with the linguistic analysis on the Cebllano and Malay languages in particular the computation towards Logical Form - the narrow syntax (Chomsky 2004:4). This paper attempts to analyze the predicate and the temporal layers of the clause structures of the said languages. The focused clause structures herein are those of the ditransitives. Ditransitives, often called triadic verbs, are a type of predicate with three arguments in its argument/thematic structure. Sentential constructions involving ditransitive or triadic verbs have two internal arguments and one external argument. The basic notion here is that dltransitives are a type of transitive verbs w ith two objects, traditionally known as direct object and indirect object, in the domain of the VP structure. In the study of ditransitives, there is a need to delve more into the syntactic and semantic properties of this particular predicate type concerning computation wherein the arguments and the theta roles arc economically addressed. In particular, the syntactic phenomena are concerned with the case properties of arguments and the conditions associated with the assignment of case. Ditransitives, in Malay and Cebuano, project different cartographies owing to the fact that Cebuano is a predicate-initial language while Malay is subJect-initial ltypologically. The findings of this study will contribute to the current studies on generative linguistics, the Minimalist Program, typology, and Austronesian linguistics.
Федорова А. Фразеологизмы как способ формирования монологической речи иностранных студентов в процессе
обучения украинскому языку. Цель исследования. Статья посвящена проблеме употребления фразеологических оборотов в
речи иностранных студентов на основном этапе обучения. Тема обусловила выбор методов исследования: теоретических
(анализ научной, научно-методической литературы по теме, учебников, программ для иностранных студентов; изучение и обобщение перспективного педагогического опыта; моделирование учебного процесса); эмпирических (целенаправленное наблюдение за учебным процессом, анализ устных и письменных высказываний иностранных студентов). Научная новизна. В работе проанализированы лексические средства формирования монологической речи иностранцев и исследованы основные этапы
введения фразеологических единиц с целью избежания «искусственности» речи. Приводятся примеры соответствующих заданий. Выводы. Доказана эффективность использования фразеологических единиц в процессе решения иностранцами коммуникативных заданий посредством украинского языка.Fedorova O. Phraseological units as the way of forming
monologue skills of foreign students during Ukrainian language course. Aim of investigation. Idiom study presents a special
language problem for all language learners because the figurative
meaning is unpredictable. The Ukrainian language being very flexible constantly enriches its vocabulary with words invented by
language speakers, making it more colorful with new Phraseological units expressions, and, at times, refills its stocks with the
borrowings and neologisms. Ukrainian just amazes by its extraordinary linguistic diversity. The subject determined the choice of
research methodologies: theoretical (analysis of scientific and methodological literature, textbooks, programs for foreign students,
study and synthesis of long-term pedagogical experience, modeling
of the learning process); empirical (purposeful observation of the
educational process, analysis of oral and written sentences of foreign students).
Scientific novelty. For the first time there have been presented the importance of phraseological units, or idioms, represent
what can be described as the most picturesque and expressive part
of the language's vocabulary and to the problem of using phraseological units in speaking of upper-intermediate students. Examples of suitable exercises are presented in the article. It is share cultural and historical information and broaden people’s understanding
and manipulation of a language. Idioms are always something special about any language; they build up some distinctive features
which differ one language from another. What is more, phraseological units reflect certain cultural traditions and depict the national character. They are not a separate part of the language which
one can choose either to use or to omit, but they form an essential
part of the general vocabulary of Ukrainian.
In order to understand a language, we must know what the
idioms in that language mean. If we try to figure out the meaning
of an idiom literally, word by word, we will get befuddled. We
have to know its hidden meaning. Because of phraseological units,
learning a language can be complicated.
Conclusions. It has been proved that the sheer number of
idioms and their high frequency in discourse make them an important aspect of vocabulary acquisition and language learning in general. One of the approaches to defining this linguistic phenomenon
stresses that an idiom is a manner of speaking that is natural to
native speakers of the language. It proves that only students who
are very good at speaking Ukrainian can adequately and to the
point use idiomatic expressions in their speech. Ukrainian is a language with a vast idiomatic basis, which makes its learning very
exciting and intriguing. So grasping the use of idioms is an essential part of learning Ukrainian.
History of medicine. Medical expeditions, Social Sciences
Diego Auquilla, Kenneth Palacio-Baus, Víctor Saquicela
RESUMEN
En este artículo se presenta el desarrollo de un sistema orientado a facilitar la comunicación de aquellas personas con discapacidad auditiva, del habla o ambas; y que se ven obligados a utilizar otras formas de comunicación como el uso del lenguaje de señas. Para solventar el problema de comprensión de este lenguaje, se propone un enfoque experimental de reconocimiento de caracteres del alfabeto dactilológico mediante la adquisición y procesamiento de imágenes digitales, y la aplicación de un clasificador basado Redes Neuronales Artificiales (RNA).
Palabras clave: Dactilología, lenguaje de señas, Redes Neuronales Artificiales, clasificador.
ABSTRACT
This article presents the development of a system aimed to aid people with speech and/or communication disabilities, who must use the sign language and the dactilologic alphabet in order to transmit their ideas. To assist others in understanding such language, we present an experimental approach for sign language characters recognition through digital image acquisition and processing techniques and the use of a Neural Network based classifier.
Keywords: Dactylology, sign language, Artificial Neural Networks, classifier.
Language is a means for communication. It is a main tool to express ideas and opinions. When a person is born, he/she is not able to speak; and it is reasonable that errors always occures when one acquires his/her language. This acquisition is based on habits and positive reinforcement he/she receives from parents, teachers, or people around him/her. Therefore, when children make mistakes in language (spelling), parents and teachers are responsible for correcting it.
الكلمات الأساسية:
اكتساب اللغة, تصويب الأخطاء, المحاكاة
The influence of age factor on the foreign language learning is examined in the article from the practical point of view. The specific age features and their influence on the foreign language acquisition at different stages of age are highlighted and analyzed on the basis of psychological research.
Resumen: En la novela El viaje del inglés (2006) Carmen Riera plasma con fina ironía una carencia nacional: la dificultad, de todos conocida, que ha supuesto en España y desde hace tiempo el aprendizaje de idiomas y, en concreto, de la lengua inglesa. Todo ello a través del personaje de Laura Prats, joven frustrada por su falta de dominio del inglés, quien acaba matando a Mrs. Grose, la enajenada profesora nativa del curso al que asiste en Inglaterra. Entre evocaciones a The Turning of the screw, el film Psicosis y diferentes teorías psicoanalíticas, la novela provoca en el lector la sensación de desorientación que demasiados españoles sienten al estar en contacto con otras lenguas, en especial la inglesa.Summary: In the so called novel El viaje del inglés (2006) Carmen Riera reflects with fine sarcasm on a domestic gap: the renowned Spanish inability to face the acquisition of foreign languages, specially the English learning. All that through the character of Laura Prats, the young woman frustrated with her unconstructive language achievements, who ends up killing the native instructor of the course that she attends in England to improve her English. Among evocations from The Turning of the screw, the film Psicosis and several psychoanalytical theories, the novel generates in the reader the feeling of disorientation that too many Spaniards suffer when facing contact with other languages.