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Recent Emphases in Foreign Language Didactics, Language Proficiency, Language Teaching, Learning and Acquisition Theories, and Language vs. Society (Tella & Harjanne, 2004a, 46; widened; Tella & Harjanne, 2004b).
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Over the past few years, foreign language didactics and foreign language teaching have been influenced by different kinds of emphases and practices. Foreign language didactics can be approached as part of subject didactics and pedagogy, but we must, at the same time, pay enough attention to the changes that have taken place in neighbouring sciences...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... this chapter, we have tried to exemplify certain changes and recent emphases that we believe are important in modern foreign language didactics (Table 2). Unfortunately, the scope of this article has not allowed us to enlarge or deepen the multiple complexity of foreign language didactics to the extent we would have wished. ...Similar publications
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Citations
... Teaching or learning EFL means that a didactic strategy must be specific. For instance, the didactics used in a classroom for EFL learning purposes must have attractive knowledge for students and each proposed didactic must emphasize specific knowledge (Harjanne & Tella, 2007;Shofkorov & Bagapova, 2020;Talaván, 2020;Uljens, 2004). Since second language learning should have a communicative approach, it has been reported that dialogue and classroom interaction should take up an extensive part of the class. ...
Learning English as a foreign language can be challenging because it requires the development of tools which allows an effective communication process. In this sense, the phonetic differences between Spanish and English are one of the reasons why it is difficult to develop listening skills for Spanish native speakers. Thus, in this research, a didactic strategy based on common audio and video platforms was designed in order to improve this ability in a sample of students. The sample was selected at convenience and consisted of fifteen students from an English intermediate course. The strategy was divided into three parts: a diagnostic test to demonstrate the level of listening; learning activities; and an exit test. A descriptive study was conducted. The obtained results showed students’ progressive improvement in pragmatics, understanding, and intonation. In addition, the results indicated that the use of alternative methods, mediated by new technologies, seems to be equal or more effective than traditional teaching and a better learning of English is perceived by using remote strategies than in face-to-face ones.
... Finalmente, en la relación docente-estudiante, se asume que la interacción está relacionada con el contexto, el cual para el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras se refiere a la sociedad, la escuela, el aula y el plan de estudio (Harjanne & Tella, 2007). ...
... De la didáctica general a la didáctica del idioma inglés Las decisiones didácticas del docente dependerán de las necesidades e influencias del contexto en el que se sitúa, al enfocarse por uno u otro elemento que compone cada uno de los dominios del triángulo, conduciéndolo a la generación de las relaciones entre estos. Para ello, es importante tener presente que en la actualidad la didáctica de las lenguas extranjeras debe entenderse de manera transdisciplinaria, debido a que busca exceder los límites de muchas disciplinas o artes diferentes de manera intencional teniendo en cuenta la comunicación intercultural, incluyendo los métodos, prácticas de enseñanza, plan de estudio y contenidos (Harjanne & Tella, 2007), lo cual constituye el centro del triángulo didáctico. De acuerdo con estos autores los idiomas se deben tener en cuenta como habilidades además de instrumentos, debido a que el dominio de un idioma extranjero se centra en las capacidades del sujeto en la comunicación tanto oral como escrita. ...
La aplicación de la didáctica general al campo concreto de cada disciplina o materia de estudio se denomina didáctica específica. Teniendo en cuenta que hay una para cada área distinta, (Mallart, 2001) en el caso de esta revisión se discurre en relación a la didáctica de la lengua extranjera. Para ello, en primer lugar, se realiza un acercamiento a la definición y características de la didáctica general tomada desde dos perspectivas, primero como una subdisciplina de la pedagogía y posteriormente como una ciencia de la educación, teniendo en cuenta la naturaleza epistémica y el objeto de estudio de la misma. En segundo lugar, se presenta la situación actual de la didáctica de la lengua extranjera inglés desde una propuesta que aborda lo concerniente a los fundamentos teóricos y prácticos del triángulo didáctico saber-docente-estudiante de la lengua extranjera, triángulo que ha sido propuesto por distintas aproximaciones teóricas para describir y analizar el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje.
... One possible explanation to this dilemma could be found in the very fundamental issue of the students' views of language and language proficiency (cf. Harjanne & Tella, 2007, 2009). If the students regard the structural aspects of the language they are going to teach as just that -structures that the learners have to internalize in order to be able to use the language -then it could indeed be argued that they are facing a considerable dilemma. ...
The present study explores patterns of cognition among 14 foreign language (FL) teacher students in Sweden regarding teaching oral proficiency and grammar in French German, Italian and Spanish. It is based on reflective cumulative log texts written by the students during a theoretical course in FL pedagogy. The log texts were investigated using qualitative content analysis to uncover central themes and patterns of agency. The findings indicate, among other things, that the FL teacher students hold strong experience-based cognitions regarding teaching both oral proficiency and grammar, and that, regardless if their FL learning experiences at school were based on form-focused teaching or communicative teaching, they struggle to negotiate the role of grammar in a communicative language teaching framework.
... In transdisciplinary teams, "the single members must really commit themselves to the aims and goals of the teams, and help and support one another on a regular basis" (ibid). In their discussion of subject didactics and pedagogy Harjanne & Tella (2007) build on the notion of affordance (Gibson 1979). They interpret affordance to be "the opportunities of action which the environment provides for the perceiving and engaged individual" (Harjanne & Tella, 2007, p. 219). ...
This licentiate thesis investigates teachers’ and students’ cognitions of bilingual subject-specific literacies. The thesis builds on three different studies, referred to as case studies, conducted in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) study programmes in the Swedish upper secondary school. Participants’ views and experiences of two languages of schooling, English and Swedish, were elicited in interviews, and analysed thematically. To gain understanding of the three studies in combination, a further analytical framework was developed and tested. In this analysis, participants’ descriptions, explanations and reflections on teaching and learning curriculum content bilingually emerged as three-dimensional discourses.
In the first study, new and experienced teachers’ challenges and strategies were in focus. The biology and civics teachers, who were new teachers, and new to CLIL, found teaching through the second language of schooling, English, time-consuming and demanding. They expressed concern about limited communication and learning in the classroom. The mathematics teachers, who had long teaching experience, and of teaching in the CLIL programme, had developed strategies to meet perceived challenges, for example, they had designed parts of lessons in a monolingual mode, and parts of lessons in a bilingual mode.
The second study explored intermediate CLIL teachers’ rationales for language choice in teaching. The biology and history teachers found that access to English, as afforded through the CLIL framework, coincided well with the new syllabi for their school subjects. For instance, the history teachers could use web-based study materials in English in class, and found teaching and learning more authentic than in the mainstream, Swedish-speaking, study programmes. The biology teachers mentioned that access to English terminology facilitated the teaching and learning of complex subject-specific content areas. It functioned as a potential source to enhance students’ understanding.
The third study documented students ́cognitionsof CLIL. The views of upper secondary students studying curriculum content through English were overall positive. However, results showed that their experiences of CLIL varied with school subject. Whereas studying mathematics through English was reported to be conducive to learning and understanding, learning civics through English only, or trying to listen to lectures in civics, where teachers would change languages seemingly without a rationale, were perceived as less conducive to learning.
... In the theoretical framework of this study ( Figure 1) communicative oral practice is seen as part of FL didactics, a science of the teaching-studying-learning (TSL) process (e.g., Kansanen, 1990;Uljens, 1997). FL didactics comprises the complex FL teaching reality, including not only teaching and learning but also studying as an equal concept (e.g., Harjanne & Tella, 2007). Within this didactic framework, oral practice is linked to students' active and purposeful studying. ...
The aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of how Finnish-speaking students’ communicative oral practice in a foreign language, Swedish , is carried out through cooperative scheme-based and elaboration tasks in the language classroom. The specific focus is on the students’ dedication and participatory interaction. The study is carried out as a didactically oriented micro-ethnographic case study, in which the teacher acts as a researcher of her own teaching. The data, gathered through tape recordings of the students’ oral practice, are analysed through qualitative content analysis methods supplemented with some quantifications. The main research findings are that a good deal of dedication to the oral practice, as well as cooperation, and interactive and self-generated communication in Swedish are realised. Many students’ use of L1, Finnish, especially when creating intersubjectivity and in scaffolding, is also evident.
... In the English-speaking world, didactics is a concept with some pejorative overtones, often associated with lower-order, technical issues related to curriculum and teaching methods (Harjanne & Tella 2007), and less connected to research (Kansanen 2009: 29). It is thus very uncommon for researchers publishing in English to use the term. ...
... If so, what we could then call ESP didactics could be defined in relation to general didactics, language didactics and English didactics on "a continuum of specificity" (Douglas 2010: 9). The construct of language didactics is already widely recognized as a subject-didactic component of general didactics (Harjanne & Tella 2007), and English didactics (didactique de l'anglais), a special case of language didactics, is also an accepted research field in French universities and elsewhere. Now the question arises as to whether ESP learning and teaching situations are specific enough to justify a separate scientific construct. ...
This paper tackles the question of research on the teaching and learning of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in France and presents the initial stages of work on the development of a theoretical framework which is specific to this field of research. It examines arguments for the development of a concept of ESP didactics and the framework underpinning research in the teaching and learning of ESP. It considers links between this concept and the didactics of languages and of English, on the one hand, and ESP research on the other. To this end, the paper begins with an analysis of different interpretations of key concepts in language teaching and learning, then provides an overview of language education in French higher education, with particular attention to ESP teaching and learning. Research in ESP teaching is then examined with reference to the new GERAS special interest group DidASP, in order to both highlight the range of contexts and approaches investigated, and identify common themes and issues.
... We discuss the didactic framework of TSL process more thoroughly elsewhere (e.g. Harjanne, 2006: 58-64; Harjanne & Tella, 2007). Here, we highlight only one of the pedagogical aspects: context. ...
The purpose of this research has been to survey the approaches to foreign language (FL) teaching and studying in Finnish FL classrooms. The central idea was to try to identify the main types of teaching and study activities according to the FL teachers. The survey was conducted as an online questionnaire with the help of the Federation of Foreign Language Teachers in Finland (SUKOL) in 2010. The FL teachers were asked to describe their own teaching and their students’ studying in the classrooms. The questionnaire consist-ed of 115 items with a Likert scale (1–4) and eight open questions. Altogether 147 FL teachers responded to the survey. In this article we highlight the KIELO research project’s rationale, the research methodology and the research findings concerning teaching and study activities the FL teachers see to be most/least common in their classroom, and the differences between context-dependent and context-independent teachers. The implications of these two teaching approaches are discussed.
Index Terms — foreign language teaching, foreign language studying, foreign language classroom, context-dependent teaching, context-independent teaching
... Since its inception in 1977, this hotly debated concept has influenced a wide range of disciplines including human-computer interaction (HCI) (Pols, 2012;Kirschner et al., 2004;Gaver, 1991;Greeno, 1994;Norman, 1988), design (Kannengiesser and Gero, 2012;Norman, 2002), robotics (Montesano et al., 2008), neuroscience (Humphreys, 2006), and, most recently, also language learning (Järvinen, 2009;Harjanne and Tella, 2007;Tella, 2005), and ecology of language (Hornberger and Hult, 2008;Blackledge, 2008;Creese et al., 2008;Scarantino, 2003;Hornberger, 2002;Mufwene, 2001) Thus, it is only logical that interpretations of this notion are becoming increasingly diverse, extending well beyond the original Gibsonian meaning. One field where the theory of affordances has proven particularly useful is the one of product design and human-computer interaction. ...
This study focuses on disciplinary teachers’ perceptions of International Classroom Affordances (ICA) during English-medium education in a multilingual university setting (EMEMUS) in Austria. The main aim is to generate a conceptual model grounded in the data that points to the perceptual mechanisms of disciplinary teachers involved in this particular case study. Another aim is in line with the research identity of the author who seeks to exercise activist agency by facilitating a shift in perspective by those engaged in English-medium teaching.
This research falls under the constructivist-interpretive paradigm within the boundaries of an ecological context and draws on the works of the perceptual psychologist Gibson (1986; 1977) and the sociologist Giddens (1984) who take organism-environment reciprocity as a central element of their theoretical foundations. Constructivist Grounded Theory (Charmaz, 2014, 2008, 2006), enriched by crucial elements of Nexus Analysis (Scollon & Scollon, 2013, 2004, 2002) has provided the methodological underpinning for this research. The systematic application of research methods anchored in the qualitative tradition and their subsequent analysis has resulted in the ICA model as the final outcome of this Constructivist Grounded Theory. By raising the agents’ descriptive accounts to the analytical level required for grounded theory research, it was sought to identify various contextual layers that allow for the generation of inductive and middle-range theory (Charmaz, 2008).
Findings leading to the ICA model suggest that teachers perceive ICA on four analytical
levels (at the framing, reacting, appropriating and embracing stage). They were found to appropriate their classroom practices in line with the emergent action possibilities they were able to perceive. The sequential affordance-based perception process largely depended on their subjective grounds for action and reflection, but was also stimulated by the researcher in form of itineraries of transformation. Personal agency coupled with hardened internalised societal patterns and the positivist conception of institutional rules were identified as the biggest defordances in EMEMUS.
... Even if the aim is communicative oral proficiency, we must bear in mind language proficiency as a whole. Harjanne and Tella (2007) express this: "Oral proficiency occupies central field, but, at the same time, we must bear in mind that the ultimate goal is multi-faceted language proficiency, which consists of both oral and written expression and receptive listening and reading skills, the way they also interact and intertwine in real life language using situations." ...
Communicative oral language proficiency is a very topical goal in the foreign language teaching and communicative oral practice occupies centre field in the attempt to reach this goal in the foreign language classroom. Communicative oral practice is linked with the methodology of communicative language teaching. I will view three levels of the methodology of communicative language teaching: the conceptions of the language and language learning, the design features and the teaching practices. I argue that the challenges of the methodological oral practice arise from the present widened conceptions regarding language, language proficiency, language learning and language teaching. To know these widened conceptions and to reflect on them is a prerequisite for their application and the development of oral practice. Further, I argue that these challenges are possibilities for communicative oral practice.
... (van Lier 2000, 252.) Based on the above, Harjanne and Tella (2007) conclude that affordance is usually an index of the opportunities for action provided by the environment for the perceiving and engaged individual. According to van Lier (2000, 252), in order for some property to turn into an affordance expressly depends on how an individual acts. ...
... It is noteworthy that according to Gibson, affordance does not refer to the actor's qualities nor to any quality of the target of action, but expressly to the relation between them (Harjanne & Tella, 2007). Greeno (1994) contends that the idea of affordance is quite straightforward, because "[i]n any interaction involving an agent with some other system, conditions that enable that interaction include some properties of the agent along with some properties of the other system [and therefore] the term affordance refers to whatever it is about the environment that contributes to the kind of interaction that occurs" (Greeno 1994, 338). ...
... Others can be completely deaf to that language. In the same way, we consider the relationship between a language learner and the language as an affordance (Harjanne & Tella, 2007). We contend that an engaged language learner is likely to notice affordances in her linguistic environment, and also likely to make use of these in her use of language, as van Lier (2000, 252) points out. ...
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