Robert Dekeyser (University of Maryland, USA)
Skill acquisition theory applied to language learning in a variety of contexts
In this talk I will present four studies conducted recently with my students. Two studies addressed issues of proceduralization and automatization; they were carried out with beginning learners in a laboratory context. One was about tones in Chinese L2, and one about Japanese L2 morphosyntax. Two other studies addressed the possibility of highly automatized knowledge eventually leading to implicit knowledge; the participants in these studies were learners with many years of exposure after classroom instruction. Again one of the studies was about tone in Chinese L2 and one about morphosyntax in Japanese L2.
Skill acquisition theory applied to language learning in a variety of contexts
In this talk I will present four studies conducted recently with my students. Two studies addressed issues of proceduralization and automatization; they were carried out with beginning learners in a laboratory context. One was about tones in Chinese L2, and one about Japanese L2 morphosyntax. Two other studies addressed the possibility of highly automatized knowledge eventually leading to implicit knowledge; the participants in these studies were learners with many years of exposure after classroom instruction. Again one of the studies was about tone in Chinese L2 and one about morphosyntax in Japanese L2.
Beyza Björkman (Stockholm University, Sweden)
Realities when using English as an academic lingua franca: Increasing communicative effectiveness in English-medium Instruction (EMI)
Following the goals outlined in the Bologna declaration (1999), countries across the six regions of Europe[1] have been working on the competitiveness of European Higher Education (HE). English, being the most dominant academic lingua franca, has been the main medium of instruction in the European Higher Education Arena. The figures from 2014 show a dramatic increase in English-taught programs of 500 per cent throughout Europe between 2001 and 2014 (Wächter and Maiworm, 2015). This workshop will focus on the use of English as a lingua franca in English-medium Instruction (EMI), reporting from three studies carried by the author between 2013 and 2015 (Björkman 2013, 2014, 2015). All these three studies were carried out in Swedish HE settings with naturally-occurring data from lectures, seminars, student group-work, and PhD supervision meetings, all being high-stakes spoken academic genres in EMI settings. The workshop will focus on speakers’ ways of increasing communicative effectiveness, zooming in on the communicative strategies employed in the different spoken genres. A part of the workshop will be used as a data session, using authentic sound files for a variety of tasks where the participants will actively take part in data analysis.
References
Björkman, B. 2015. “PhD supervisor - PhD student interactions in an English-medium Higher Education (HE) setting: Expressing disagreement”. European Journal for Applied Linguistics (EUJAL). 3(2). doi 10.1515/eujal-2015-0011.
Björkman, B. 2014. “An analysis of polyadic English as a lingua franca (ELF) speech: A communicative strategies framework”. Journal of Pragmatics 66. 122-138.
Björkman, B. 2013. English as an Academic Lingua Franca. Developments in English as a Lingua Franca series. Berlin/New York: De Gruyter Mouton.
[1] Baltic, Nordic, Central East Europe, South East Europe, Central West Europe, and South West Europe, as defined in Wächter and Maiworm, 2015.
Realities when using English as an academic lingua franca: Increasing communicative effectiveness in English-medium Instruction (EMI)
Following the goals outlined in the Bologna declaration (1999), countries across the six regions of Europe[1] have been working on the competitiveness of European Higher Education (HE). English, being the most dominant academic lingua franca, has been the main medium of instruction in the European Higher Education Arena. The figures from 2014 show a dramatic increase in English-taught programs of 500 per cent throughout Europe between 2001 and 2014 (Wächter and Maiworm, 2015). This workshop will focus on the use of English as a lingua franca in English-medium Instruction (EMI), reporting from three studies carried by the author between 2013 and 2015 (Björkman 2013, 2014, 2015). All these three studies were carried out in Swedish HE settings with naturally-occurring data from lectures, seminars, student group-work, and PhD supervision meetings, all being high-stakes spoken academic genres in EMI settings. The workshop will focus on speakers’ ways of increasing communicative effectiveness, zooming in on the communicative strategies employed in the different spoken genres. A part of the workshop will be used as a data session, using authentic sound files for a variety of tasks where the participants will actively take part in data analysis.
References
Björkman, B. 2015. “PhD supervisor - PhD student interactions in an English-medium Higher Education (HE) setting: Expressing disagreement”. European Journal for Applied Linguistics (EUJAL). 3(2). doi 10.1515/eujal-2015-0011.
Björkman, B. 2014. “An analysis of polyadic English as a lingua franca (ELF) speech: A communicative strategies framework”. Journal of Pragmatics 66. 122-138.
Björkman, B. 2013. English as an Academic Lingua Franca. Developments in English as a Lingua Franca series. Berlin/New York: De Gruyter Mouton.
[1] Baltic, Nordic, Central East Europe, South East Europe, Central West Europe, and South West Europe, as defined in Wächter and Maiworm, 2015.
Ana Pellicer-Sánchez (University of Nottingham, UK)
Investigating incidental learning of vocabulary in an ESL context
Recent estimates show that almost 40% of the postgraduate students in the UK come from non-English speaking countries (Higher Education Statistics Agency). These students are immersed in an English as a second language (ESL) context and complete their postgraduate education in English but receive no formal instruction in English language skills. A considerable part of the learning of linguistic skills in this study abroad context takes place incidentally through exposure to the language, with reading playing a crucial role in the linguistic development of students in this context. This presentation will report results of recent studies conducted to examine the effectiveness of reading for the acquisition of new vocabulary by postgraduate students in a study abroad ESL context. It will provide an overview of the quantity and quality of vocabulary that can be learnt, the conditions for that learning, as well as the range of techniques that can be used to investigate vocabulary learning from reading, with a particular focus on the use of eye-tracking to investigate this process.
Investigating incidental learning of vocabulary in an ESL context
Recent estimates show that almost 40% of the postgraduate students in the UK come from non-English speaking countries (Higher Education Statistics Agency). These students are immersed in an English as a second language (ESL) context and complete their postgraduate education in English but receive no formal instruction in English language skills. A considerable part of the learning of linguistic skills in this study abroad context takes place incidentally through exposure to the language, with reading playing a crucial role in the linguistic development of students in this context. This presentation will report results of recent studies conducted to examine the effectiveness of reading for the acquisition of new vocabulary by postgraduate students in a study abroad ESL context. It will provide an overview of the quantity and quality of vocabulary that can be learnt, the conditions for that learning, as well as the range of techniques that can be used to investigate vocabulary learning from reading, with a particular focus on the use of eye-tracking to investigate this process.
