A longitudinal study of learning for a group of indigenous Australian university students: Dissonant conceptions and strategies

Conceptions of learning andstrategies used by 15 indigenous students inthree Australian universities were studiedlongitudinally over three years. Their academicachievements were good, but at a high cost interms of time and effort. In spite of the factthat almost half of the students expressedhigher-order (qualitative) conceptions oflearning in the first year and more in thesecond and third years, all of the studentsreported using highly repetitive strategies tolearn. That is, they did not vary their way oflearning, reading or writing in the beginningof their studies and less than half of them didso at the end of the three years. It is arguedthat encountering variation in ways of learningis a prerequisite for the development ofpowerful ways of learning and studying.     

Opening dimensions of variation: An empirical study of learning in a Web-based discussion

The discussions held in specifying an automaticvehicle as a project in a distance work-relatedcourse are in focus for an analysis of learningin networked discussions. Learning ischaracterised as coming to experience things indistinctly new ways, in keeping with theunderlying phenomenographic research approachfor the study. Group discussions are seen asone feature in the experience of, and theformation of, the context for learning, in anexperiential interpretation of activitysystems. The analysis has led to theidentification of pivotal contributions todiscussions that can be said to afford learningwithin the group, in the sense of openingdimensions of variation around criticalfeatures of the task. This is developed toproduce a taxonomy of contributions, withparticipatory, factual, reflective and learningcontributions, suggested to be necessary,though not sufficient, conditions for learning.The taxonomy is illustrated and discussed, asare its implications for tutoring in networkedcourses of this type.     

日语学习策略的使用水平和专业四级成绩关系的实证研究

本文运用定量研究的方法,探讨了48名高分组和48名低分组日语专业初级阶段学习者的日语学习策略和日语专业四级成绩之间的关系。统计分析表明,被试的语言学习策略使用处于中等水平,高、低分组学生在认知策略、补偿策略、元认知策略方面存在显著差异,认知策略和补偿策略与日语专业四级成绩之间存在显著的正相关关系。说明学习策略的使用对日语成绩有影响。     

从语言和思维的关系出发，谈EFL写作思维方式的培养

本文从语言和思维的基本涵义出发,讨论语言和思维的关系,认为EFL学习者可以从培养符合英语族人的思维方式途径来提高写作能力。     

Understanding glocal learning spaces. An empirical study of languaging and transmigrant positions in the virtual classroom

The use of digital tools like computers and tablets in institutional learning arenas give rise to forms of flexibility where time and space boundaries become diffuse. Online learning sites are understood as being crucial today, especially in large parts of the Global North, where anyone anywhere potentially can become a student and have access to educational opportunities.

This study focuses on the analysis of recorded sessions, part of an ‘Italian for (adult) beginners' online course. Our interests relate to accounting for how students negotiate different language varieties, including modalities, and how communication in virtual learning settings enables both flexible participation trajectories and identity positions in and across the boundaries of time and space.

The sociocultural and dialogical analyses here are framed in terms of fluidity of ‘glocal' positions and (trans)languaging that emerge in and across time and space in Technology Mediated Communication. Our findings suggest that online environments support meaning-making where it is possible to identify alternative ways of (co)constructing and mediating learning. Such hybridity as well as the performative character of learning and identity display have important implications for online glocal communities.     

Improper use of linear reasoning: An in-depth study of the nature and the irresistibility of secondary school students' errors

Several recent ascertaining studies revealed a deep-rooted and almost irresistible tendency among 12–16-year old students to improperly apply the linear or proportional model in word problems involving lengths, areas and volumes of similar plane figures and solids. While these previous studies showed to what extent students' improper use of linear reasoning is affected by different characteristics of the task, it remained largely unclear what aspects of their knowledge base are responsible for the occurrence and strength of this phenomenon and how these aspects relate to other more general misconceptions and buggy rules identified in the literature. This paper reports an in-depth investigation by means of individual semi-standardised interviews aimed at analysing the thinking process underlying students' improper linear reasoning and how this process is affected by their mathematical conceptions, beliefs and habits. During these interviews,students' solution processes were revealed through a number of well-specified questions by the interviewer with respect to one single non-linear application problem, as well as through their reactions to subsequent kinds of cognitive conflict. The interviews provided a lot of information about the actual process of problem solving from students falling into the ‘linearity trap’ and the mechanism behind it. Although some students seem to really ‘believe’ that quantities are always linked proportionally, their improper use of linearity often results from superficial and intuitive reasoning, influenced by specific mathematical conceptions, habits and beliefs leading to a deficient modelling process. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Ambiguity as a motor for communication—Differences between hearing and deaf students’ ways of reasoning about energy

Ambiguity in group discussions as a resource for communication is studied. How students, aged 13–15 years, elaborate on the concept energy through dialogue is described. Group interviews were conducted with 15 hearing and 20 deaf students. Three probes were used to initiate discussions on different meanings of energy. The results show that the dialogues are less elaborated for deaf learners compared with hearing learners. It is argued that dialogues between hearing students have a greater chance of becoming ‘joint productive activity’, since the ambiguity of the word energy in Swedish lays the ground for shared meaning-making. To deaf learners, the ambiguity between the Swedish word and the signs used produces uncertainty and puts an end to further dialogue.     

Mobile Assisted Chinese Learning as a Foreign Language: An Overview of Publications between 2007 and 2019

This paper presents a critical overview of studies on mobile assisted language learning (MALL) in teaching Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) during the period 2007-2019. In the review, keyword and reference searches were conducted to identify and select empirical studies during the review period. Thematic and frequency analyses were employed on the data. This identified methodological trends and research outcomes in the reviewed studies. As shown in the results, most of the reviewed studies used qualitative methods to examine the effect of mobile CFL learning on formal learning in higher education settings. These studies document the positive impact that mobile technology has on CFL learning. Their attention is primarily on the use of mobile learning in Chinese vocabulary acquisition, language skill development and mobile seamless learning. Suggestions are provided for further research to support continuous mobile assisted CFL teaching and learning.     

Effects of socioeconomic status and language use on academic language proficiency in children with a migration background: An evaluation using quantile regressions

Academic language proficiency (ALP) is supposed to contribute to success across school subjects and to be a hurdle for students, in particular for those from families with a migration background. The present study investigated the effects of language use (i.e., use of the majority and/or a minority language) at home and at free time as well as of families’ socioeconomic status (SES) on ALP. We used quantile regression and OLS regression approaches to examine the joint contributions of these factors for three facets of ALP in German primary school students with a migration background (N = 1,629). Results underline the role of SES across the whole distribution of the three ALP facets, whereas the role of majority language use differed between the three facets. Furthermore, interaction effects between SES and majority language use at home were observed mainly at high quantiles showing that the positive effect of using the majority language at home increases with higher SES particularly in students with higher ALP. The results are discussed in light of theoretical approaches on the role of SES and language use for ALP of students with a migration background.     

欧盟旅游与经济增长关系研究 ——基于面板数据的实证分析

旅游发展与整体经济增长之间的关系一直是旅游经济研究领域的热点。应用异质面板协整技术对1996—2011年间欧盟27国旅游发展和经济增长之间关系进行分析,并着重针对新旧欧盟和东欧、南欧、西欧、北欧展开比较研究,其实证结果显示,各地区旅游发展和经济增长之间都存在显著相关性;进一步的格兰杰检验亦表明两者间在欧盟15国无论从短期还是长期来看均存在双向因果关系;欧盟12国虽然短期内也存在双向因果关系,长期来看却只存在旅游对经济增长的单项因果关系。以地理因素来进行划分的南欧组别结果也印证了该结论。上述研究结果对欧盟地区制定旅游发展战略具有一定的政策启示。