This study examines computer-based essay writing in Spanish as a foreign language among two groups of pupils in Sweden (n=32+25, aged 17-18), one group with Internet access, one without. The article ...focusses on effects of online translation (OT) on writing fluency, and on grammatical and lexical complexity and accuracy. Small but statistically significant effects were found. Effects on fluency and complexity, but not accuracy, can to some extent be explained by the pupils' proficiency level, rather than by the use of OT. Pupils using OT made fewer mistakes regarding orthography and article/noun/adjective agreement, but more mistakes regarding syntax and verb morphology. This contradicts the participants' belief that OT helped them improving syntax and verb inflection. Better language proficiency is pointed out as necessary to be able to make good use of OT. Further research on longitudinal effects of OT on pupils’ learning of vocabulary and grammatical accuracy are recommended.
Este estudio examina la escritura de composiciones usando ordenadores en dos grupos (n=32+35, edades 17-18) de estudiantes suecos del español como lengua extranjera. Uno de los grupos tenía acceso libre a internet, el otro no. El artículo está enfocado en los efectos del uso de traducción automática (TA) sobre la fluidez de la escritura y sobre la complejidad y corrección gramaticales y lexicales. Algunos efectos pequeños pero estadísticamente significativos fueron encontrados. Hasta cierto punto, los efectos sobre la fluidez y la complejidad, pero no sobre la corrección, pueden ser explicados por el nivel de conocimiento del español de los estudiantes. Los estudiantes que usaron TA produjeron menos errores de ortografía y de concordancia entre artículos, sustantivos y adjetivos, pero más errores de sintaxis y de morfología verbal. Esto contradice la idea de los estudiantes de que la TA pudiera ayudarles a mejorar la sintaxis y a conjugar los verbos. Un mejor conocimiento del idioma es indicado como un prerrequisito para que la TA pueda ser competentemente usada. Se recomienda más investigación sobre efectos longitudinales sobre el aprendizaje de vocabulario y sobre la corrección gramatical.
There is an increasing pressure from school leaders in many countries for teaching to be based solely on ICT tools. The present study is interested in what this does to pupils' attitudes towards ICT ...in language classrooms. Is a digital monopoly a good way for pupils to learn languages? Is it what they want? To understand for which tasks students feel that computers are an appropriate tool, a qualitative survey mapping upper secondary school pupils' attitudes towards the ICT use for learning Spanish has been conducted. The study looks at ICT use for grammar practice. A group of pupils have completed lesson diaries, reflecting upon web-based grammar exercises, comparing them to paper-based exercises, and a questionnaire survey on general attitudes towards ICT in language learning. The results indicate that the majority of participating pupils ask for a greater variety of tasks and see a need also for traditional forms of grammar practice, especially written exercises which give time to reflect upon grammar, syntax and vocabulary. They want ICT use to be an option, not a constraint. Many complain on flaws in the design of web-based grammar exercises. This shows a need for more research into the effects of different designs of web-based tools. It also becomes clearer that decision-makers and teachers must focus more on the pedagogical purpose of learning tasks and that the first question to ask is: "How can I teach this in a way that suits my pupils?" rather than: "How can I add more ICT to my teaching?".
This article presents the results of a longitudinal study of digital writing strategies and vocabulary development among Swedish upper secondary school pupils of Spanish as a foreign language. During ...one schoolyear, the pupils (N=31) wrote four essays in Spanish, a pre-test and a post-test. 15 pupils used a printed dictionary as translation tool, 16 used Google Translate (GT). Vocabulary development was measured as the change in lexical diversity from pre-test to post-test, using Guiraud’s index. The results show that the use of GT leads to higher degrees of lexical diversity as long as it is used, but that the effect vanishes when the tool is no longer used. The results point to the need for a deeper understanding of language structure and lexicon, a reinforced focus on vocabulary in foreign language teaching, and a widened range of explicit instruction of translation tools and strategies.
This article presents the results of a longitudinal study of vocabulary development among Swedish upper secondary school pupils of Spanish as a foreign language. During one schoolyear, the pupils ...(N=31) wrote four essays in Spanish, a pre-test and a post-test. 15 pupils used a printed dictionary as translation tool, 16 used Google Translate (GT). Vocabulary development was measured as the change in lexical diversity from pre-test to post-test, using Guiraud’s index. The results show that the use of GT leads to higher degrees of lexical diversity as long as it is used, but that the effect vanishes when the tool is no longer used. The results point to the need for a deeper understanding of language structure and lexicon, a reinforced focus on vocabulary in foreign language teaching, and a widened range of explicit instruction of translation tools and strategies.
Este artículo presenta los resultados de un estudio longitudinal sobre el desarrollo de vocabulario entre un grupo de estudiantes suecos de español como lengua extranjera. Durante un año escolar, los estudiantes (N=31) escribieron cuatro redacciones en español, una prueba previa y una prueba posterior. 15 estudiantes usaron un diccionario impreso como herramienta de traducción, 16 el Traductor de Google (GT). El desarrollo de vocabulario escrito fue medido como el cambio de diversidad léxica entre la prueba previa y la prueba posterior, utilizando el índice de Guiraud. Los resultados muestran que el uso de GT da una diversidad léxica mayor mientras los alumnos lo usan, un efecto que desaparece cuando GT no se utiliza más. Los resultados indican la necesidad de una comprensión más profunda de estructuras lingüísticas y de léxico, un enfoque reforzado en el vocabulario en la enseñanza de idiomas extranjeros, y una extensión más amplia de enseñanza de herramientas de traducción.
Kent Fredholm (2015). Eleverna, datorn och språket: Studier av skoldatoriseringens effekter på elevers attityder, skrivstrategier och textproduktion i spanskundervisningen på gymnasiet. (The Pupils, ...the Computer and the Language: Studies of the Effects of School Computerisation on Pupils’ Attitudes. Writing Strategies and Written Text Production in Upper Secondary School Spanish Classes.) Stockholm University, Studies in Language Education 12. ISBN 978-91-7649-090-7. Written in Swedish, English and Spanish with abstracts in the three languages and a summary in English. The present work is based upon three studies performed between 2012 and 2014 at the Swedish upper secondary school with pupils studying Spanish as a foreign language. The first study investigates through lesson diaries and an online survey the pupils’ attitudes towards and perceptions of computer use in language learning at large, and specifically of online grammar exercises as compared to paper-based exercises. The participating pupils showed mixed attitudes towards using online exercises for grammar practice, with high demands on websites’ design and user friendliness, as well as for the correctness and reliability of automated corrections. A majority preferred mixed teaching methods (including computer use, teacher-led explanations and the use of paper- and pen-based exercises, especially translation tasks). The major advantage of using computers was considered to be for essay writing and information search. The second study investigates how a group of pupils use online resources when writing essays in Spanish, focussing on their extensive use of online translation services such as Google translate. The writing strategies of these pupils with free access to the Internet are compared to the strategies of another group working without Internet access. The third study examines effects of the use of online translation on the language in the pupils’ essays. The texts written with online translation are compared to texts written without Internet access, but with access to printed dictionaries. Few statistically significant differences can be seen between the two groups. These concern grammatical and lexical complexity and accuracy. The most clear differences regard spelling and article/noun/adjective congruence (with higher degrees of accuracy among the users of online translation), and syntax (with fewer errors in the group writing without online translation). The grammatical complexity was also somewhat higher in the online translation group. As for fluency (text length) and complexity, differences can be correlated to the pupils’ proficiency in Spanish, whereas no such correlation can be seen regarding accuracy.
Uppsatsen utreder genom en enkätundersökning utförd i år 7, 8 och 9 på en svensk grundskola elevers inställning till studier i språken franska, spanska och tyska. Centrala frågor är: vad tycker ...eleverna om att studera språk; hur väljer de språk; vad motiverar dem att fortsätta studierna; vad får dem att avstå från fortsatta studier? Av elevernas svar framkommer att majoriteten uppskattar språkstudierna; att de avskräcks från studier då studiebördan blir för tung, lektionerna för tråkiga eller ämnet för svårt; att val av språk i stor utsträckning styrs av tillfälligheter, men att en stor del av eleverna ändå ser nyttan i att lära sig ytterligare ett språk.
By the means of a questionnaire survey performed in a Swedish compulsory school, the present work examines the attitudes towards studies in the French, Spanish and German languages amongst pupils in the 7th, 8th and 9th forms. Questions essential to the survey are: what are the pupils’ feelings towards studying languages; how do they choose which language to study; what motivates them to keep studying; what refrains them from further studies? The answers given by the pupils show that the majority enjoys their language studies; that the pupils are deterred from studying when the burden of studies gets too heavy, the lessons become too tedious or the subject too difficult; that the choice of language to a great extent is governed by coincidence, yet that a large number of the pupils do see the advantage of learning another language.
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Uppsatsen utreder genom en enkätundersökning utförd i år 7, 8 och 9 på en svensk grundskola elevers inställning till studier i ...språken franska, spanska och tyska. Centrala frågor är: vad tycker eleverna om att studera språk; hur väljer de språk; vad motiverar dem att fortsätta studierna; vad får dem att avstå från fortsatta studier? Av elevernas svar framkommer att majoriteten uppskattar språkstudierna; att de avskräcks från studier då studiebördan blir för tung, lektionerna för tråkiga eller ämnet för svårt; att val av språk i stor utsträckning styrs av tillfälligheter, men att en stor del av eleverna ändå ser nyttan i att lära sig ytterligare ett språk.
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By the means of a questionnaire survey performed in a Swedish compulsory school, the present work examines the attitudes towards studies in the French, Spanish and German languages amongst pupils in the 7th, 8th and 9th forms. Questions essential to the survey are: what are the pupils’ feelings towards studying languages; how do they choose which language to study; what motivates them to keep studying; what refrains them from further studies? The answers given by the pupils show that the majority enjoys their language studies; that the pupils are deterred from studying when the burden of studies gets too heavy, the lessons become too tedious or the subject too difficult; that the choice of language to a great extent is governed by coincidence, yet that a large number of the pupils do see the advantage of learning another language.
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