Elia - 2019 - Nº 19

URI permanente para esta colecciónhttps://hdl.handle.net/11441/93931

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Mostrando 1 - 9 de 9

Student attitudes towards English pronunciation and different varieties in the English classroom
(Universidad de Sevilla, 2019) Alonso-Herrero, Ane; Lasagabaster Herrarte, David
In the last decades English has gained undeniable relevance and status to the extent that it has become essential both in the professional and personal spheres in many parts of the world. However, its pronunciation is still regarded as the “Cinderella” among the areas of language due to its neglect in the foreign language classroom. This study sought to investigate 55 secondary school students’ attitudes in the Basque Autonomous Community (Spain) towards English pronunciation, General American English (AE), Standard Southern British English (BE) and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), as well as Native and Non-Native English Speaker Teachers (NESTs and NNESTs). Additionally, students’ responses were statistically compared in terms of gender. Data was collected through a questionnaire, the verbal-guise technique (VGT) and three open-ended questions. Results suggested that, although students believed in the importance of pronunciation instruction, English instructors should address its relevance more specifically. Native English varieties were prioritized, as well as NESTs. Statistically significant gender differences were also found. Conclusions and pedagogical implications are provided.
The use of sitcoms for cultural learning in efl: A workshop for university students
(Universidad de Sevilla, 2019) Raigón Rodríguez, Antonio; Larrea Espinar, Angela María
This article examines the perceptions of EFL university students regarding an intercultural workshop that uses a sitcom (Master of None) as an instructional tool. Prior to detailing the workshop and the students’ assessment, this paper deals with the evolving role of culture in the English language classroom. Concentrating on cultural facts about English-speaking countries has proven insufficient for today’s world, where the vast majority of interactions happen among non-native speakers. Students need to work on developing skills and attitudes in order to become intercultural citizens. Even though language teaching has evolved to accommodate this shift in cultural perspective, textbooks, the backbone of language teaching, have remained almost unaffected by this change of paradigm. In this context, TV shows can be a dependable cultural training tool. Data obtained via a Likert-scale questionnaire show the participants’ appreciation for the workshop, and their highly positive perception of the acquisition of cultural knowledge and the development of attitudes and skills using this type of workshop.
Social science learning and gender-based differences in clil. A prelimirary study
(Universidad de Sevilla, 2019) Nieto Moreno de Diezmas, Esther; Hill, Thomas Matthew
This article shows the preliminary results of a longitudinal study that aims to (i) determine the impact of bilingual education on the acquisition of contents related to social sciences, and (ii) its effect on the reduction of gender-based achievement differences. To this end, the results of students in the 4th year of primary education (n = 119) of one bilingual and one non-bilingual school located in an urban area were compared. It was guaranteed that the groups were homogeneous in terms of socio-economic level, that they had received a similar teaching methodology and same amount of social science teaching hours (3 hours a week). The results showed (i) the students who received the subject of social sciences in English had acquired knowledge in a similar manner to those who had received it in their mother tongue and (ii) the bilingual education levelled the gender differences observed in the non-bilingual school in favour of males.
Towards a multimodal perspective to assess pragmatics: A study based on complaints-responses to complaints
(Universidad de Sevilla, 2019) Beltrán Palanques, Vicente
The purpose of this study is to provide insights into pragmatic assessment in terms of appropriateness from a multimodal perspective at a conversational level. The study involved the design of a rubric for assessing pragmatic appropriateness from a holistic perspective, that is, it addresses linguistic and non-linguistic resources. The study was conducted in a Spanish higher education context and involved 64 participants, who were divided into two different proficiency levels (B1 and B2). Data were gathered by means of a role-play task that elicits complaints and responses to complaints, and a multimodal corpus consisting of 32 videos was compiled. Two raters examined participants’ performance according to the rubric devised for the purposes of the study. Results reveal that general proficiency level appears to influence pragmatic appropriateness in terms of the expressions used and the management of turns during the conversation. This study suggests that analysing pragmatic appropriateness from a holistic perspective deserves further investigation and its findings set the ground for future research in this area.
Students' views about instructional practices of tradicional, ppp, and task oriented teachers
(Universidad de Sevilla, 2019) Calle Calle, Ana María; Calle Calle, María Daniela; Cabrera Tenecela, Homero Patricio; León Vélez, María Verónica
This study intends to explore student beliefs regarding the usefulness of their teachers’ instructional practices and compare them with categorization of their teachers’ profiles. A questionnaire with 4 close questions and 3 open questions including topics such as pair and group work, students’ interest, usefulness of the material and content, the best and least useful aspects of the class and suggestions to improve it was administered to 481 high school students of a southern city of Ecuador; also 18 high school teachers were observed delivering one lesson. Using the information gathered from students’ questionnaires, a 481 data matrix was constructed relating it to the 18 teachers’ profiles. In addition, a descriptive analysis was carried out and a comparison between the observers’ and the students’ criteria for the first four closed questions was conducted. For the open questions, the answers were categorized according to the usefulness of three elements: grammar, content, and methodology. Results showed that students favored modern EFL pedagogy. Task Based Learning Teaching (TBLT) and Presentation-Practice-Production (PPP) methods were considered as the most accepted methodologies; notwithstanding, traditional methodology was considered as the least effective one. A model was constructed which allowed us to point out the relevance of pair work, content, and methodology, so if these factors occur in teacher practices, it can be inferred that a teacher is closer to a TBLT profile.
The available English lexicon of male and female Spanish adolescents
(Universidad de Sevilla, 2019) Jiménez Catalán, Rosa María; Canga Alonso, Andrés
This study explores the available English lexicon of Spanish adolescents in the twelfth form. It combines a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the English words produced by males and females in a lexical availability task. The objectives are twofold. Firstly, we identify the number of words retrieved by each group in response to nine prompts related to learners’ realities, such as ‘Food & drink’, ‘Clothes’, ‘School’, or ‘Hobbies’. Secondly, we analyse the most frequent words retrieved by males and females to ascertain whether patterns of gender variation are observed. Overall, the results indicated more similarities than differences. A closer analysis on the means points to the absence of significant differences in the number of words produced by males and females both for the whole task and per prompt. However, differential tendencies were also observed in the exclusive words for each group that were found in the prompts ‘Professions’ and ‘Clothes’.
The effects of oral corrective feedback and language anxiety on pronunciation development
(Universidad de Sevilla, 2019) Luquin, María; Roothooft, Hanne
While a substantial body of research has shown that oral corrective feedback (CF) is effective for the acquisition of foreign language grammar, very few studies have focused on the impact of CF on pronunciation development. Moreover, there is a dearth of CF research which takes individual differences such as foreign language anxiety into account. The present study therefore investigated the effects of recasts and metalinguistic feedback on the pronunciation of the -ed ending, comparing 30 low- and high-anxiety learners with an A2+ level of English at a Spanish secondary school. A pre-test/post-test design involving a reading-aloud test and a storytelling treatment was applied to a recast (n=10), metalinguistic feedback (n=10) and control group (n=10). Each of the three groups was further divided into a high-anxiety (n=5) and low-anxiety group (n=5). Significant differences were found between the recast and control group, confirming previous research showing that recasts are beneficial for pronunciation development. However, despite certain indications that low-anxiety learners benefited more from CF, and high-anxiety learners seemed to benefit especially from recasts, no significant differences between the anxiety-groups could be identified in this study.
Developing EFL oral skills through linguistic mediation in the secondart education classroom
(Universidad de Sevilla, 2019) Alcaraz-Mármol, Gema
Linguistic mediation is one of the aspects to be developed within communicative competence, as established by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (2002). The aim of this study is to check whether linguistic mediation somehow contributes the development of other communicative constructs, in this case oral production. To this end, a group of 40 students from the 1st year of Bachillerato at a public secondary school in Madrid carried out a total of eight language mediation activities designed ad hoc. The activities were carried out once a week, in 50-minute sessions. The participants took an oral production test before and after the didactic intervention. Oral production was measured in terms of coherence and cohesion, lexical and grammatical variety, fluency, interaction, and pronunciation. The results showed that after the completion of the mediation activities, the students’ fluency and interaction had improved significantly, thus suggesting the added value of linguistic mediation not only as important in itself but as a facilitator in the development of other communicative skills.
Prólogo. Elia, 19
(Universidad de Sevilla, 2019) Chacón-Beltrán, Rubén

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