Classroom-Oriented Research: Reconciling Theory and Practice

✍ Scribed by Mirosław Pawlak (eds.)

• Publisher: Springer International Publishing
• Year: 2016
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 290
• Series: Second Language Learning and Teaching
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This collection gathers contributions from scholars from Poland and abroad addressing different facets of research into the processes of foreign-language and second-language learning and teaching as they transpire in a typical language classroom. The book is divided into three parts, which address in turn: research directions and methodology, the findings of empirical research, and links between theoretical considerations and classroom practice. Accordingly, the first part includes papers that examine the role of different research paradigms, put forward concrete research proposals, present innovative data gathering tools or assess the role of such instruments in language teaching. The second part includes reports on original research studies focusing e.g. on teachers’ beliefs, the role of lexis and pragmatics, the application of modern technologies, the teaching and assessment of primary school children, and the development of social skills from a cross-cultural perspective. Finally, the third part of the book demonstrates how theory-driven approaches can enhance the effectiveness of instructed second language acquisition.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-xv
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
Quantitative and Qualitative Classroom Research—Friendship or War?....Pages 3-17
Designing a Tool for Measuring the Interrelationships between L2 WTC, Confidence, Beliefs, Motivation, and Context....Pages 19-37
Conceptualizing and Measuring the Construct of Pronunciation Anxiety: Results of a Pilot Study....Pages 39-56
Learning from Retired Language Teachers’ Biographies: A Research Proposal....Pages 57-74
Capturing Effective Teaching: The Construct of an Observation Scheme....Pages 75-87
Methodological and Ethical Issues in Research Interviewing with a Multicultural Group of University Students: Are There Dos and Don’ts?....Pages 89-105
Front Matter....Pages 107-107
Future Teachers’ Beliefs About Language Learning. A Study on Selected Subjective Theories....Pages 109-121
BA Thesis Writing Process and Pre-service Teachers’ Beliefs on Teaching Writing....Pages 123-134
Kindergarten Teachers’ Beliefs About the Goals of Very Early FL Instruction and Their Classroom Practices: Is There a Link?....Pages 135-150
Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices of Assessing Young Learners....Pages 151-166
Techniques Used to Assess Language Areas and Skills at the Lower-Primary Level: Research Results....Pages 167-183
Lexis in Writing: Investigating the Relationship Between Lexical Richness and the Quality of Advanced Learners’ Texts....Pages 185-196
Interlanguage Pragmatics of EFL Advanced Learners: Insights from a Longitudinal Study into the Development of the Speech Act of Request in the Polish Context....Pages 197-212
New Technologies and the ‘Wow’ Factor: Investigating the Relationship Between Time of Exposure to New Media and Students’ Opinions on Game-Supported Language Learning....Pages 213-228
Front Matter....Pages 229-229
CPH Theory, Early Classroom Instruction and Age-Related Issues that Are Separable from Age....Pages 231-241
Reconciling SLA Theories with Classroom Practice: Designing a Principled Eclectic Bridge....Pages 243-259
Raising Strategic Awareness as a Prerequisite for Successful Strategy Training....Pages 261-274
Teaching Foreign Language Literature with the Use of Film Adaptation and the Problem of Medium Specificity....Pages 275-286

✦ Subjects

Language Education;Applied Linguistics