Stereotype threat in learning situations? An investigation among language minority students

Stereotype threat (ST) is a potential explanation for inequalities in language competencies observed between students from different language backgrounds. Language competencies are an important prerequisite for educational success, wherefore the significance for investigation arises. While ST effects on achievement are empirically well documented, little is known about whether ST also impairs learning. Thus, we investigated vocabulary learning in language minority elementary school students, also searching for potential moderators. In a pre-post design, 240 fourth-grade students in Germany who were on average 10 years old (M_Age = 9.92, SD = 0.64; 49.8% female) were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions: implicit ST, explicit ST without threat removal before posttest, explicit ST with threat removal before posttest, and a control group. Results showed that learning difficult vocabulary from reading two narrative texts was unaffected by ST. Neither students’ identification with their culture of residence and culture of origin nor stereotyped domain of reading were moderators. The findings are discussed with regard to content and methodological aspects such that a motivation effect might have undermined a possible ST effect. Implications for future research include examining the question at what age children become susceptible to ST and whether students have internalized negative stereotypes about their own group, which could increase the likelihood of ST effects occurring.

     

Is EFL a Modern Trojan Horse? Teaching and learning Engilsh as a foreign language: an adverse perspective

THROUGHOUT China, the National language, Mandarin, is spoken by only 53% of the Chinese population (Yan 2005), while most primary schools, and all middle and senior-middle schools, colleges and universities have mandatory English instruction (cf. Niu Qiang & Martin Wolff 2004a). Shakespeare says that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but linguistic imperialism - defined by Robert Phillipson (1992) as the dominance asserted and maintained     

The complexity of the learning and teaching of EFL among Swedish‐minority students in bilingual Finland

In Finland, English is widely visible outside the school context, above all in the area of entertainment and mass media, and is no longer regarded as a foreign language in the old sense of the word. Among Swedish‐minority students in Finland, the dominant status of English in various mass media leads to positive attitudes towards English among students and provides strong motivation to acquire the language. This paper considers whether the incidental learning of English taking place outside the classroom results in the same kind of proficiency as that resulting from formal classroom learning.     

English language learners’ participation in the discourse of a multilingual science classroom

Recent science-education reforms have targeted students’ ability to ‘talk science’, especially in science classrooms. Prior research has shown that participation in scientific discourse in class is one of the most challenging scientific-literacy tasks, and particularly complex for English language learners (ELLs) at the upper elementary level. The present study explores this issue in a fourth-grade science classroom in the United States in which students from various linguistic and cultural backgrounds were studying together. Specifically, it analyzes the case of a focal Asian-background ELL who encountered challenges in her attempts to respond to the teacher’s questions and participate in the classroom academic discourse on earth science. Our analysis indicated that this ELL was unaware of the teacher’s expectations regarding the intertextual connections and academic language required to successfully accomplish science tasks. The ELL’s unexpected responses exposed a complex set of academic and social issues – notably, gaps between the teacher’s, students’, and ELL’s own expectations about language participation – that could have contributed to her supposed behavioural problems.     

Understanding learners’ use of augmented reality in language learning: insights from a case study

The case study aimed to provide a deeper understanding of learners’ perception and experience of using augmented reality (AR) for language learning. Seven university students were recruited in this study, and they were provided access to an AR-based stroke-by-stroke animation guide for learning Japanese orthography with their own mobile computing devices. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and direct observations. Subsequent thematic analysis showed that, overall, learners had positive perception and attitude towards the immersive language learning experience afforded by the AR programme. However, challenges pertinent to technology and user experience were also revealed. The findings accentuate the role of teachers in the implementation process and point out possible directions for more effective uptake of AR in this field.     

Do social regulation strategies predict learning engagement and learning outcomes? A study of English language learners in wiki-supported literature circles activities

Educational technology research and development - Combining wiki technology with the literature circles could be powerful and beneficial for promoting the learning of English as a foreign language...     

The effect of content and language integrated learning on students' English and history competences – Killing two birds with one stone?

By failing to appropriately control for selection effects, most previous research has overestimated the effects of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) on the development of students' foreign language skills. Furthermore, the CLIL-effect on the content subject is still widely unknown. Therefore, the present study investigated skill development of 1806 German CLIL and non-CLIL eighth-graders in English and History controlling for a wide range of student, classroom and teacher characteristics. Results of multilevel modelling confirmed that CLIL-classrooms showed greater increases in English listening comprehension but not general English skills as measured by a C-test than non-CLIL-classrooms. In History, the increases in subject knowledge over one school year were comparable despite CLIL-students' larger amount of instruction (three instead of two hours per week). The results confirm previous, differential findings for English. For the content subject, they indicate that CLIL-classrooms need to invest substantially more time to achieve comparable learning outcomes.     

Relationship between teacher-led versus learners’ interaction and the development of pragmatics in the EFL classroom

In spite of the theoretical claims and research supporting the relationship between conversational interaction and language learning, the effect of interaction on the acquisition of pragmatic competence has received scant attention. This paper reports on the results of a study carried out to further understand the effect of teacher–students versus learners’ interaction on the development of learners’ pragmatic competence. The subjects included two groups of 12 students instructed in the use of requests. Group A was randomly assigned to learners’ collaborative language learning condition, and group B to teacher-led interaction on requests. Students in both groups were pre-tested and post-tested on their knowledge and use of requests. Results of the study examine the nature of collaborative dialogue in teacher–students and peer interaction, and support the claim that pragmatic knowledge may emerge from assisted performance.     

Examining the mediating effect of learning strategies on the relationship between students’ history interest and achievement

Research into the effect of interest consistently indicated that interest positively related to students’ achievement; however, the mechanism through which it affected the learning result remained an open question. This study intended to examine how learning strategies mediated the relationship between interest and achievement in the domain of history learning. Biggs Learning Process Questionnaire, which distinguishes between the surface and deep-level learning strategies, was adopted to describe students’ learning process. Structural equation modelling and the distribution of products test were used to evaluate the mediating effect. Based on available resources, the participants were seventh grade students in China. Analyses revealed that the surface-learning strategy served as a mediator, but the deep-learning strategy did not play the same role.     

Explaining the modality effect in multimedia learning: Is it due to a lack of temporal contiguity with written text and pictures?

The study examined whether the modality effect is caused by either high visuo-spatial load or a lack of temporal contiguity when processing written text and pictures. Students (N = 147) viewed pictures on the development of tornados, which were accompanied by either spoken or written explanations presented simultaneously with, before, or after the pictures. For verbal recall no modality effect was observed, whereas for transfer the influence of modality varied as a function of phonological working memory capacity. For pictorial recall the results showed a modality effect that was limited to simultaneous presentation, apparently in line with the temporal contiguity explanation. However, spoken simultaneous presentations were not superior to spoken sequential presentations, which contradicts the temporal contiguity explanation for the modality effect. Rather, it seems as if learners with simultaneous presentation of written text and picture concentrated more on the text and ignored the pictures, resulting in worse pictorial recall.     

The functions of shared metacognitive regulation and their differential relation with collaborative learners’ understanding of the learning content

By taking into account the functions of socially shared metacognitive regulation (SSMR) (i.e. the role that SSMR plays in the (dis)continuation of ongoing interaction), the present study sheds light on the differential effectiveness of SSMR. The study more particularly investigates how individual students' involvement in SSMR that confirms, changes, activates, or stops interaction, predicts their understanding of the learning content on the short and middle-long term, taking into account students' prior knowledge. Sixty university students were involved. Multilevel models were run to investigate the relation between individual students' engagement in the functions of SSMR and their conceptual understanding. Contributing to SSMR that changes and that activates collaborative learning appeared significantly positively related to students' immediate understanding of the learning content, whereas participating in SSMR that confirms or that stops ongoing interaction was not. Contributing to SSMR (regardless of its function) appeared not significant for predicting students’ conceptual understanding on the middle-long term.     

Is dyslexia a form of specific language impairment? a comparison of dyslexic and language impaired children as adolescents

Two groups of adolescents with a childhood history of language impairment were compared with a group of developmentally dyslexic young people of the same age and nonverbal ability. The study also included two comparison groups of typically developing children, one of the same age as those in the clinical groups, and a younger comparison group of similar reading level to the dyslexic students. Tests of spoken and written language skills revealed that the adolescents with dyslexia were indistinguishable from those with resolved language impairments on spoken language tasks, and both groups performed at age-expected levels. However, both dyslexic readers and those with resolved specific language impairments showed deficits in phonological awareness. On written language tasks, a different pattern of performance was apparent. In reading and spelling, adolescents with dyslexia performed only as well as those with persistent oral language impairments and younger controls. However, their reading comprehension was better. The theoretical and educational implications of these findings are discussed.     

Motivating learners in open and distance learning: do we need a new theory of learner support?

This paper calls for a new theory of learner support in distance learning based on recent findings in the fields of learning and motivational psychology. It surveys some current learning motivation theories and proposes that models drawn from the relatively new field of Positive Psychology, such as the ‘Strengths Approach’, together with Dweck’s Self Theory and Anderson’s insistence on proactive support, could be developed into a ‘Proactive Motivational Support’ theory. Such a theory might enable distance educators to support learners more successfully than existing models of learning skills development and remedial support. The paper then reports on further findings from experiments (one previously described in Open Learning), using these approaches in the UK Open University. These findings confirm the previous results, showing significant increases in retention that, in the context of the Open University’s funding arrangements, appear to be at least self‐financing.     

Is collaborative learners’ adoption of metacognitive regulation related to students’ content processing strategies and the level of transactivity in their peer discussions?

European Journal of Psychology of Education - The present study investigates collaborative learners’ adoption of key regulation activities (i.e., orienting, planning, monitoring, and...     

Young learners’ interactional development in task-based paired-assessment in their first and foreign languages: a case of English learners in China

In response to the growing interest in evaluating young learners’ foreign language (FL) performance, this study aims to deepen our understanding of young learners’ developmental differences in interaction during task-based paired-language assessments. To examine age effects separately from the effect of general language proficiency, we analysed learners’ interaction in both their first language (L1) and FL. We observed the students as they engaged in an assessment consisting of a set of decision-making tasks with their peers. After each task, the students self-assessed their performance. We found differences in interactions across grade levels in both L1 and FL with respect to holistic interactional patterns, topic development, and turn-taking patterns. The students’ understanding of communicative interactive tasks also appeared to differ between grade levels, perhaps reflecting their experiential differences with communicative tasks in class. The paper concludes with implications for implementing task-based paired-language assessments for young learners.     

Does defending come with a cost? Examining the psychosocial correlates of defending behaviour among bystanders of bullying in a Canadian sample

Bullying is a form of interpersonal trauma that impacts all parties involved, including the youth who witness the bullying. Some bystanders choose to intervene and defend the child being bullied. Defending may be positively associated with psychosocial difficulties because youth are becoming more involved in a traumatic event, or because youth may be actively coping with the distress elicited from witnessing bullying; however, the link between defending and psychosocial difficulties has not yet been examined. The current study investigated the age-related differences and psychosocial difficulties associated with defending behaviour in school bullying. Data were collected from 5071 Canadian youth from Grades 4–12. Participants completed an online survey at school, which assessed demographic information, recent defending behaviour, location and frequency of witnessing bullying, and psychosocial difficulties (internalizing, anger, psychosomatic, academic, and relationship difficulties). A subsample of 1443 pure bystanders (no current bullying involvement) was used for regression analyses. Defending behaviour was more common among girls and among younger students. For boys, defending behaviour was associated with more psychosocial difficulties compared to boys who only witnessed the bullying. This relationship was less consistent for girls. Defending behaviour was also associated with more psychosocial difficulties at high levels of bullying exposure. These associations suggest that defending may come at a cost for youth, or that youth are defending their peers to cope with negative emotions associated with witnessing interpersonal trauma. More longitudinal research is needed to clarify these associations.     

Researching the psychology of cognitive style and learning style: Is there really a future?

The field of individual differences in cognitive and learning style has been constantly criticized for conceptual confusion, contested definitions, poor measurement and lack of validity. This study reports the findings from a global e-survey of 94 style researchers who were asked to comment on the state of the field and their own understanding of the phenomenon being studied, including areas of criticism. Our findings highlight considerable agreement over the value and future direction of style research. However, while there is also strong awareness of criticisms and concerns over terminology and measurement, there appears to be little resolve to address them.     

Do teachers make all their students play the same learning games? A comparative study of learning games in biology and English as a second language

This article, based upon the field of comparative didactics, seeks to contribute to the identification of generic and specific features in the teaching and learning process. More particularly, its aim was to examine, through the study of two different school subjects: biology and English as a second language, how passive didactic differentiation can develop and account for the gap in progress growing between more-able and less-able students. For our analysis, we adopt a didactic viewpoint basing our study on what is going on in the class when the teacher and her students interact and use notions borrowed from the Joint Action Theory in Didactics. At the end of the article, we mainly argue that more teacher training focused on ‘objects of learning’ and ‘knowledge-in-use’ is necessary if we want teachers to be able to produce didactic milieus adapted to students with mixed abilities and, more generally, if we want to increase epistemic access.     

Portfolios as ‘learning companions’ for children and a means to support and assess language learning in the primary school

This article explores the idea of portfolios as a way to collect evidence of pupils' learning and achievement in their language learning in the primary school. The emphasis is on portfolio work as an active and reflective process to underpin and support learning and to show evidence of achievement and progression. Pupil choice and reflexivity are essential in the process. The process can encourage learners to draw on their learning experiences across the curriculum. Whilst a means of providing evidence of learning, and for showcasing work pupils are proud of, portfolios are seen as central to and embedded in the day-to-day learning and underpinned by the principles of formative assessment. Designed to be used with other modes of assessment including the European Languages Portfolio, portfolios are in essence flexible, inclusive and a dynamic record of learning, achievement and potential for every learner. In this article, the use of portfolios from an early age as a means to promote development and learning and a way of assessing learning are inextricably linked. Teachers working to develop portfolio work, and some of their pupils, add their voices to the discussion of portfolio development towards an enhanced dialogic assessment culture.     

CLIL for all? A randomised controlled field experiment with sixth-grade students on the effects of content and language integrated science learning

Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) has been widely implemented in Europe. This article presents a randomised controlled field experiment on the effects of CLIL on students' science learning. Thirty sixth-grade intermediate-track German secondary-school classes (722 students) were randomly assigned to learn (5 lessons, 90 min each) a physics topic taught either in German or in English and German. We expected that the monolingually taught students would outperform the bilingually taught ones immediately after the intervention. For the follow-up test 6 weeks later, the same or smaller differences between the groups were expected due to the potential for a deeper processing of the subject matter in the bilingual condition. The results showed that the bilingually educated students' learning gains were smaller than the monolingually educated ones' immediately after the intervention (d = −0.21) and at follow-up (d = −0.23). The expectation of more sustainable processing was not supported.