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Learning culture and vocabulary from reading texts

Learning culture and vocabulary from reading texts. Do input-processing directions make a difference? Lies Sercu & Lieve De Wachter K.U. Leuven. Research goal. Better results? Worse results? . Dual learning task. Single learning task. …more specifically. Group 1 = condition 1 :

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Learning culture and vocabulary from reading texts

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  1. Learning culture and vocabulary from reading texts Do input-processing directions make a difference? Lies Sercu & Lieve De Wachter K.U. Leuven

  2. Research goal Better results? Worse results? Dual learning task Single learning task TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  3. …more specifically Group 1 = condition 1: reading text ‘cultural’ contents Group2 = condition 2: reading text‘cultural’ contents + vocabulary Group 3 = condition 3: reading textvocabulary TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  4. Do dual learning tasks (culture + vocabulary) lead to better or worse learning effects than single learning tasks ? TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  5. Hypotheses • Learners with dual task => less good in answering cultural questions than learners with single task culture • Learners with single task vocabulary => better in vocabulary test than learners in other conditions • Learners with single task vocabulary => less good in cultural test than learners in other conditions TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  6. Research design CALL-environment in Question Mark Perception • General questionnaire: • Personal elements • Learning styles • Motivation to learn the language + culture • Integration • … • Pretest vocabulary + pretest culture • Posttest vocabulary + posttest culture TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  7. Pre-test culture (open) 1 april Manneke Pis Justine Henin Prins Laurent Dutroux 11 november TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  8. Pre-test culture (closed) • Multiple choice questions on ‘cultural’ aspects • E.g. would you say it is common for men to urinate in public? To kiss each other on the street? … TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  9. Pre-test vocabulary • On basis of frequency list for Dutch as a foreign language • 20 target words + 30 distractor words of same frequency band • Goals: • Check respondents’ overall level of proficiency in foreign language • Check whether respondents knew target words before experiment TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  10. Pre-test vocabulary 1. de spanning(a) Ik heb dit woord nog nooit ontmoet(b) Ik heb dit woord al ontmoet, maar weet niet meer wat het betekent(c) Ik weet wat dit woord betekent (1) ik kan dit woord gebruiken in een zin waaruit de betekenis van het woord duidelijk wordt. De zin die ik wil voorstellen is (vul hieronder aan) OF (2) ik kan een synoniem geven, namelijk (doe dat hieronder) OF (3) ik kan een omschrijving (definitie, parafrase) geven (doe dat hieronder)2. zoenen (werkwoord)(a) Ik heb dit woord nog nooit ontmoet(b) Ik heb dit woord al ontmoet, maar weet niet meer wat het betekent(c) Ik weet wat dit woord betekent (1) ik kan dit woord gebruiken in een zin waaruit de betekenis van het woord duidelijk wordt. De zin die ik wil voorstellen is (vul hieronder aan) OF (2) ik kan een synoniem geven, namelijk (doe dat hieronder) OF (3) ik kan een omschrijving (definitie, parafrase) geven (doe dat hieronder) TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  11. Participants • Students of Dutch as a Foreign Language of university language centre (ILT) – K.U. Leuven • Students have degree of higher secondary education – most of them university degree • Level B1 of CEF TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  12. Materials • Text: ‘Kussen’ from Niet Vanzelfsprekend (Van Loo & Schoenaerts) • Kissing habits in Belgium / The Netherlands (1, 2 or 3 kisses / men-women kissing, evolution in kissing traditions) • 809 words (among them 20 target words) • Authentic text about culturally ‘relevant’ topic => incites learner’s reflection on culture (ICC) TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  13. Post-test vocabulary Two parts: 1.Receptive test: recognizing target words’ meaning + formal characteristics - 40 sentences (2 per target word) - some contained mistakes (semantic, morphological, grammatical) 2. Productive test: - gap filling - first letter given TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  14. Post-test culture • 12 questions on cultural information provided in the text • Multiple choice test TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  15. Data collection procedure • 2 occasions: • General questionnaire + pre-tests culture and vocabulary • Reading authentic text + posttests culture and vocabulary TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  16. No time limit • Text reading: twice at their own pace • Text input: on paper (words in margin explained + use of dictionary + asking teacher) TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  17. Sample • Number of ‘valid’ tests: 81 • condition 1: focus on culture: 23 • condition 2: focus on culture + voc.: 38 • condition 3: focus on voc.: 20 • Variables: • gender • age • nationality • mother tongue • degree • number of months / years in Belgium TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  18. Significant differences between conditions? • No significant differences between conditions in numbers between • Men – women • Older people – younger people • Belgians – other nationalities • … TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  19. TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  20. Overall results • Learning effect vocabulary (= voc. posttests): no significant difference between conditions 1, 2 and 3 -> students who were instructed to concentrate on vocabulary reacted statistically similar to students who did not get this instruction TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  21. Learning effect culture (= cult. posttests): Significant difference between condition 3 and conditions 1 and 2 -> students who were instructed to concentrate on vocabulary (!) had better scores on the posttest culture than students in other conditions TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  22. Input processing directions do not have expected results • Differences on pre-test level? no significant differences there for culture or for vocabulary • Task too easy for culture? • Students in condition 3 intrinsically better? => seems to be reinforced by general results during Summer Course • Students in condition 2 intrinsically weaker? => seems to be reinforced by general results during course of June TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

  23. Dual or single tasking? • no conclusive evidence • probably due to sampling issues • simply giving directions on how to process materials may not be enough to change input-processing behaviour TBLT Leuven Sept. 22 2005

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